


Dreams of the Morrow

by HippiestHop



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-10 00:39:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 53,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3270239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HippiestHop/pseuds/HippiestHop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cloud is sent back in time, and now he wants to change things. But with an apprentice Turk, Three First Class SOLDIERS, and an old friend on his tail, will he succeed? Cloud's memories are sent into his past body, but they're incomplete. Pretending to be a kid isn't easy, especially when he doesn't know why he was sent back in the first place.</p>
<p>Time Travel explanation is in chapter 20, if that's what you're here for. If you're looking for an epic quest where the main character overcomes all obstacles in his path, learning as he goes, this isn't for you. Cloud isn't always competent, and he's not always needed. Sometimes he's more of a problem than he was a help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cadets

"But Angeeeal!"

The older man sighed and lowered his massive sword. "Fine, but I want you back here in half an hour, no excuses. And don't even think about visiting that Turk, I really don't need more paperwork."

The black haired teenager flung himself at his mentor in a flying tackle-hug before racing out the door. He paused just long enough to call over his shoulder, "Reno's not a full Turk yet you know, he's an… apprentice?"

SOLDIER Third Class Zack Fair ran through the hallways of the Shinra building, doing his best not to run into anyone but still get to the closest mess hall as fast as possible. The SOLDIER food was better, but he was looking forward to having time to terrorize a Shinra employee, and half an hour would just allow him time to eat.

He burst into the cadet cafeteria, and was a bit disgruntled to find the place filled with midgets. There hadn't been any cadets here for about two weeks, and now suddenly – . Oh, two weeks. The exams were two weeks ago, so new cadets should be filtering in. Well, that explains the little people.

Completely ignoring the wide-eyed stares he was getting, he grabbed a tray and went through the line, having the lunch people but at least one of everything on it. Turning to survey the room, he noticed that most cadets were already in groups, despite it being what he assumed was the first day. His eyes narrowed upon noticing a rather lonely looking cadet: his next victim. There in the corner was a smaller than small blond with ridiculously spiky hair, just sitting there staring down at his hands, one of those depressed looking people. Zack never really understood them, but they were super fun to annoy! A huge grin spread across his face and he trotted over to the cadet's table. "Hey there Spiky!"

The cadet looked up quickly, and when he saw the glowing eyes of a SOLDIER looking back at him he moved to stand, stumbling over the stool he was sitting on. Zack put out an arm to steady him as he set his tray down, also managing to stop the stool from falling over with one of his feet. "Sorry Sir," the kid whispered after saluting, his face getting redder by the second.

This was obviously not what the kid was hoping his first meeting with a SOLDIER would be like. Zack realized how stressed the kid was, and tried to relieve the tension. "Nah, that's alright. Wouldn't want you falling over your first day now would we?" The cadet just looked at the ground. Zack sighed. This was much less fun than he had thought it would be. "Come on, sit down. I didn't mean it." The cadet sat down and Zack started rambling as he shoveled food into his mouth, "Is this your first day? I remember when I was a cadet, but that wasn't long ago, just last year. After getting my Mako shots I started growing an inch a month, until I got to 6' 1". Apparently Mako makes you grow to the height you would be, it just makes it go faster or something, I'm not really sure. I sure am happy to stop growing so quickly though, 'cause I never had time to get used to my height and I kept breaking things. Clumsiness combined with super-strength makes a bad combination."

Zack paused in his one sided conversation to drink some water, and the cadet took the chance to get a word in, even if it was a hesitant one. "Sir? Why did you call me spiky?"

He broke into a huge grin, happy that the cadet had found the courage to say something. "Your hair, Spiky. Hey! It looks just like a chocobo! Maybe I should switch to calling you chocobo head. Nah, I like Spiky better. Hey, aren't you going to eat something?"

Spiky blinked, probably confused at the change of subject. When what Zack said had registered, the cadet looked down, blushing slightly. "Well, sir, I would eat, but I don't have any money, sir."

Zack almost just kept talking, as he had expected that he had already ate, and was just waiting for someone but then he realized Spiky hadn't eaten, and his face twisted into a horrible grimace thing, usually reserved for when he was much hungrier than normal, which was saying something. "You don't have any money?" he squawked, "B-but cadets don't have to pay for food!"

Spiky turned redder and mumbled, "I'm not officially a cadet until this afternoon, that's when registration opens."

Zack let out an undignified squawk and promptly leapt over the table and grabbed the cadet by the arm. Dragging him out of his chair and into the line, Zack waited not so patiently to get another tray. Heaping two scoops of all the obviously artificial things they fed the cadets onto it and completely ignoring the grumpy lunch person standing at the register he pulled Spiky back to the table and shoved the meal at him. "Eat," he commanded, scowling over his shoulder in the general vicinity of a high-up. What one of them would be doing in the cadet mess-hall he would never know.

Spiky shoved one of those wimpy plastic spoons into the glop and started eating. The poor kid looked ravenous, and Zack knew how that felt. He pitied him. Then he looked at his watch and pitied himself. "Aw crap. Sorry Spiky, got to run, Angeal's gonna kill me!

The door opened slowly, and the young redhead surveyed the room inside with a wicked glimmer in his eye. He glanced behind him cautiously before creeping towards a computer, a wry smirk already flickering over his face. He pressed the button to boot it up and slipped down into the cushioned swivel chair. The monitor flashed to the main screen and he quickly started his work.  
After a few minutes, a click sounded behind him and he froze, scared for his life.  
"Reno"  
The long haired trespasser slowly spun around, a huge, fake grin plastered on. "Yo, boss-man! Long time no see!" He came to a rest facing the Wutaian, his eyes flicking from the face, to the gun, to the door and back.

The man sighed and holstered his weapon, running a hand through his shoulder-length hair. "It's been seventeen hours, Reno. Can't you stay out of trouble for a day, just one day?"

Reno made a face. "But boss, where's the fun in that, yo?"

Tseng just shook his head, leaning over the red head to grab the mousse. "There is something called sleep. Most people need it. It does not involve attempting to change the background on your superior's computer to rather disturbing images of-. What is that anyway?" he asked when he came upon the picture Reno was trying to transfer onto his computer. The Turk's eyes widened as he continued to stare at the picture. "Is that a cat?" He asked, his eyelid twitching slightly. Tseng held cats in high regards, and it seemed they liked him back. Never had a cat injured him, and even the semi-feline Dark Nation had never been aggressive towards him. On the screen was a vaguely red and furry creature with some sort of light on the end of its tail. It lay on a pile of dead monsters and was dripping blood onto the white tiled floor. It appeared to be in a lab. His mouth turned down slightly, the only sign he was disgusted. "Forget I ever asked. You know, hacking can be put to a much better use on a mission than finding old pictures of the science department." He stated, turning to glare at the apprentice.

Reno glared back, a disobedient teenager in all its glory. "Maybe if I ever got missions. How am I supposed to make it to full if I never get to do anything, yo? You just gonna leave me here 'til I get moldy?'

One of Tseng's eyebrows curved up slightly. He wanted a mission did he? "I'll give you a mission. No doubt you heard about the performance enhancing drugs we found the other day? We suspect the source is one of the cadets. Your mission is to infiltrate their groups and discover who they are coming from. Mission begins," here he looked down at his watch before continuing, "today at 0700 hours. You have until then to prepare. Alert everyone you might contact during your dime as a cadet that you are not to be referred to as part of the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department while within earshot of any cadets or in uniform. You will be able to find uniforms on floor 32, which is where you'll be staying. From now on you are SOLDIER cadet Reno, 1st year member of squad C. If you wish, you may make up a last name of your choice. Good luck."

At that he turned and walked out, leaving SOLDIER cadet Reno blubbering like a fish. Strangely, the boy wasn't outraged yet, as the only though in his head was, "Performance enhancing drugs? When did we find those?"


	2. Amnesia

One Week Later

Sephiroth had long since blocked out the buzzing of the creature behind him. Why Angeal had felt the need to accept a mission and deposit his puppy on a very unwilling comrade, the world may never know. What Sephiroth did know, was that he was looking forward to his friend's return. The worst part was that not only did he have to put up with this annoyance following him around all day like the puppy it was after its owner, but he also had to make time in his schedule to attempt to teach it. That is why he was currently escorting Angeal's student to a training room.

It was expected that the puppy would find some sort of trouble to get himself into. It was not, however, expected that he would run from Sephiroth's side, screaming something about a spike.

Sephiroth, of course, wasn't happy about this.

"Third Class Fair, what is the problem?' he barked, thoroughly annoyed.

Zachary was panicking. The puppy was kneeling beside a cadet with bright yellow hair. "Something's wrong with Spiky! Seph, help!"

Sephiroth blinked. "Zachary, do not call me Seph. My name is Sephiroth," was the automatic response, but he soon added to it with, "The cadet's name is Spiky?"

Zachary actually looked sheepish, the situation temporarily forgotten. "That's not his real name, and I don't know it so don't ask, but I call him Spiky." Sephiroth gave him a blank look. "You know, 'cause of his hair."

Sephiroth shook his head slightly before approaching the pair. There did seem to be a problem with the cadet, as he was laying on the floor unconscious and Zachary's rigorous shaking had not woken him. "Zachary, stop." The puppy looked at him questioningly. "The cadet is not enhanced. You do not want to hurt him." He pried Zachary's fingers off the cadet, his own brushing against the unconscious boy's arm in the process.

The cadet's eyes snapped open. Startle, Zachary took a step back. When the boy's eyes focused on Sephiroth, he jumped back, ripping himself away from The General. Sephiroth continued staring at him. What was this about? Most cadets would love to be in his presence, even if they were intimidated by him. When he looked into the eyes of this cadet, he didn't see awe, or even nervousness. Instead, he saw hate and fear, akin to some looks he had been given in Wutai. Was this cadet a Wutaian spy? No, he decided, this cadet was much too pale to be from Wutai, and what information could be gathered as a cadet? First Classes' favorite colors?

The cadet waved an arm behind his back, as if to reach for a weapon, but grasped nothing but air. His eyes flicked between Sephiroth, the closest door, and the hallway to either side of him.

Zachary looked confused. Not that that was unusual.

The SOLDIER Third waved at the cadet, trying to get his attention. "Hey Spike!" he called, most likely trying to snap the cadet out of whatever haze he was in. Unfortunately, the cadet did not calm down. The boy snapped his head towards Angeal's puppy and froze, getting even paler.

The cadet opened his mouth speechlessly for a moment, the sound delayed as he struggled to make his voice work. "Za-ack?" Sephiroth took this chance to lunge forward and rap the cadet's head with his fist, knocking him unconscious again.

Zachary caught the boy as he slumped to the ground, lifting him bridal style before turning to glare at Sephiroth. "What were you thinking Sephiroth? You don't just go knocking out people, no matter how scared of you they are. Especially not if they're scared of you!"

As it was clear the puppy was not going to let this go, Sephiroth started to explain himself. "It was the best course of action. The cadet was in danger of getting hurt, for if he had attacked me I would have been forced to defend myself, and if he had run I would have had to apprehend him so he could be brought to the infirmary for a search of detrimental health conditions that were the cause of his unconscious state. Either one of those would have ended poorly for the cadet, so I found a solution that did not injure the boy." Sephiroth strode closer to the two and the cadet visibly tensed in his sleep. "I would suggest you bring the cadet to the infirmary, as it seems he had a negative reaction to my presence. I will be back in my office should you need me." After that Zachary rushed the boy to the infirmary, and Sephiroth walked back to his room, silently thanking the cadet for ridding him of Angeal's puppy.

Cloud flicked open his eyes when he heard a soft beeping and he panicked as soon as he saw the sterilized white room. He tore the heart monitor off his chest and his ears burned at the sound of it flat lining, the horrible noise reminding him too much of the deaths of his friends, and his time in Hojo's care. He catapulted off the cot, ducking and rolling to stay out of sight. He heard someone's feet hit the ground behind him and he took off at a run.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Spiky, hold up!"

Was that Zack? Cloud sided to a halt and spun around, eyes searching for his dead friend. Was this a dream? A memory? Or if Zack really was visiting him, why would he be in a lab? Focusing his attention on the black haired man trotting after him, he realized some odd things about his friend. Zack looked younger than Cloud could ever remember seeing him, but at the same time seemed taller, which was impossible. People in the lifestream appear how you remember them, and while this Zack looked very close to his, he wasn't the same. This is Zack. His mind argued, He's your friend. Your first friend. Unless it isn't, the more practical side, less affected by Zack's memories argued back. It's probably an imposter, trying to get me to let them experiment on me again. But still the voice in the back of his head persisted. But it looks so much like it him. It sounds so much like him.

The man came closer, and Cloud started to hope, against his better judgment. The dead do not come back to life. People in the Lifestream do not change. This is not him, he told himself, but he knew it was useless.

It was the eyes that finally convinced him. You can't fake Mako. "Zack?" he whispered, "Is it really you?"

The man looked confused. "Yeah, I'm Zack. What's wrong, Spike?"

Cloud felt something wet running down hiss cheeks, and lifted a hand to his face. They were tears. Cloud was startled. He hadn't cried since, well probably the last time he cried was when Zack-, no. Before he joined AVALANCHE. He hadn't even cried when they all died, so why was he crying now?

"Spiky?"

Cloud looked up at Zack, inadvertently showing the SOLDIER his tears. The confused but sympathetic look on his face somehow made Cloud cry harder, but his were silent tears. He looked back down, ashamed of his weakness. Saviors of the world were not supposed to cry.

Arms wrapped around him and he tensed, but he couldn't do anything as the limbs encircling him held his own tight to his sides. He struggled desperately; he would not allow himself to be captured again. He ducked his head and brought his teeth down with all the force he could muster, and the person restricting him jumped back. Cloud was fairly surprised he hadn't broken the man's bone.

He went straight for the door, but barely made it three steps before his pursuer caught up with him and forced him to the ground. Where was his Mako? He should be out that door by now. The tears blurred his vision, so he couldn't clearly see his attacker, but he was wearing something blue. The man somehow had superior strength and had Cloud pinned in mere seconds. Cloud closed his traitor eyes and braced himself for the prick of a needle and a free trip into nothingness.

It never came.

Cloud blinked open his eyes. The tears that had remained unshed had been washed away when he closed his eyes, so he could see clearly now. Clearly enough to see it was Zack was on top of him and there wasn't a needle in sight. "I'm so sorry, Zack!" he croaked, then burst into full out sobbing.

Zack made small comforting noises and got to his feet, lifting Cloud with him. The man hugged him, and he stiffened a moment before melting into his embrace. "Shh. It's okay," Zack murmured, holding him tight.

Cloud's sniffles subsided and he composed himself enough to ask a question, "Where are we, Zack?"

Zack released him and stepped back. "We're in the regular's infirmary. You were unconscious in the hall, but then you woke up and then you, were like, about attack Seph, then you saw me and were like 'Z-za-ack?' and I was like 'Huh' then Seph knocked you out.

This boggled Cloud's mind. Zack and Sephiroth were hanging out in the lifestream? In a hallway in the lifestream? And how was he unconscious in a hallway in the Lifestream? Was it even possible to sleep after you die? And moreover, "Why did you bring me to an infirmary?"

Zack looked at him strangely. "Did you not here what I said? You were knocked out. By Sephiroth. And before that you were unconscious. If you missed any classes you needed an excuse."

Cloud had absolutely no clue what his friend was talking about. "What are you talking about, Zack? I'm not taking any classes."

Zack blinked, apparently dumbfounded, but that moment a large man who looked remarkably like Zack burst through the door. Searching Zack's memories, Cloud realized this was his mentor, Angeal. He was dead too. Does this mean I'm dead?

Angeal was breathing heavily, but once he saw Zack he relaxed, the wild look coming out of his eyes. However, a scowl soon formed on his face. "Zack, what are you doing here?"

Zack grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, something else Cloud realized he had gotten from him. "Well you see, Spike here was lying in the hall, and me and Seph saw him when he was going to train me or whatever, and he's that one cadet who I got lunch a couple days ago, so I was trying to wake him up but he wouldn't wake up, then Seph touched him and he freaked out. Then he saw me and he was like 'Zack?' and I was like 'how does he know my name' and then Seph knocked him out and told me to take him here."

Cloud had frozen near the beginning of Zack's explanation. "Cadet? I'm not a cadet, Zack."

His friend looked at him in shock. "Of course you are! What did you think that uniform you're wearing is for?"

Cloud's voice was getting louder and more frantic. "No! I'm not a cadet! I failed, remember? Then I joined the regular army and met you, but that was years and years ago!" Cloud paused for a moment, then looked up at the two Soldiers. "I'm dead aren't I? Well, it sure took its time in coming. Poor Vincent is probably going to go crazy or at least go back to sleep. We should have run each other through a long time ago, but we were too cowardly. Or at least, I was. Hey, do you know where the rest of AVALANCHE is? I want to talk to them."

The two blinked at him for a slow moment before Zack pasted an obviously fake, huge smile on his face. "Hey Spiky, why don't you get some rest, I think Seph hit you a bit harder than he should have."

Cloud's eyes narrowed. "What are you playing at?" Then an expression of surprise surfaced as a realization dawned on him. "I'm still alive aren't I?" He kicked himself mentally as he looked down at his bare arms, taking in the lack of scars. He blinked then, breaking out of his daze and looked up at his dead friend, speaking frantically. "I'm still a cadet? Zack, what's the date?"

Angeal answered for him, "The twenty third of August, 1998."

Cloud blinked. "1998? That means I'm twelve." He thought for a moment, then a small smile spread across his face. "Four years. It's nice, to be an age other than sixteen. Or was it twenty one? The Mako makes it hard to tell."

Angeal looked at him suspiciously. "How do you know about the effects of Mako?"

Zack brightened slightly. "I think I told him last week, how Mako makes you the height you would be and made me all clumsy. Kid has a good memory."

Cloud's hoarse laugh broke their conversation, and once they turned to look at him he regained his composure. "Sorry it's just that I don't even know where I am." Better play it like it's real, just in case, he thought nervously. If this was somehow real, they would think he was crazy. They most likely already did. He probably was, too.

"We're in the Shinra building." Angeal was obviously suspicious.

Cloud closed his eyes to try and suppress his emotions. It sure seemed like this was real. He had never had a dream this vivid, unless it had actually happened. "Shinra," he muttered in disgust, earning a glare from Angeal.

"Now what were you saying about AVALANCHE?"

He gulped nervously. This really did look real, but it couldn't be real, could it? Could the last 280 years be a dream? Then a thought popped into his head. If they thought he was crazy, what would they do with him? Cloud glare at Angeal, as he couldn't bring himself to think that Zack would do anything to hurt him. "If you bring me within ten feet of Hojo there won't be enough of him left to bury," he threatened, watching them carefully.

One of Angeal's dark eyebrows shot up. "You would have to share him with Sephiroth, you know."

Cloud stiffened at the name and let a breath hiss out through his teeth. He knew they would notice his animosity towards The General, but no one had talked to him about the man for over 150 years, as everyone else had died and Vincent had not wanted to discuss Lucrecia's son either. "I'll be going back to my room now, if there is no further use for me here." He walked out, reaching the elevator before realizing he had no clue where he was bunking. He searched his pockets and soon fished out an ID card. He looked closely at his picture, nose wrinkling at how pathetic he looked. He did find his room number though, room C on floor 32.

Cloud shuddered as the three and the two separated to reveal a hallway with doors lacing the sides at even intervals. He remembered vaguely his cadet years, and while they weren't as bad as the years to come, he had been bullied frequently and ended up in the infirmary often.

That would not happen this time, not if he could help it. Yes, if this was real, this time things would be different. Zack and Aerithwould not die, Midgar would not be destroyed, and Sephiroth would not burn down Nibelheim.

Cloud swiped his keycard through the lock and stepped inside. There were four sets of bunk beds spaced along the walls, and at the back was a door most likely leading to a bathroom. Each set of beds had two lockers at its base, and since everyone else was gone he decided to find out which was his. Cloud worked two wires off the bottom of one of the top bunks and bent them into shape. He inserted them into one of the locks and picked it deftly, thanking that he had spent 250 years in the company of an ex-Turk and not a bartender. Not that he hadn't picked some things up from Tifa.

The locker held nothing identifying it as his own, so he moved on to the one next to it. Eventually he found one with a letter from his mom in it. A letter from his mom. His mom was alive. What he didn't like about his locker was the amount of Sephiroth related articles rolled up and stuffed in front of the letter from his mom. Cloud had seen the same thing in most of the other lockers, but it disgusted him that him that he had been so, so enthralled with the man. With The General. With the Hero of Wutai, or Demon of Wutai if you asked Yuffie. Sephiroth did have a lot of names, but even when he was nothing but a legend, he was still referred to as The Nightmare.

He tore up the papers viciously and threw them in the trash. Sephiroth did not deserve to be recycled. He returned to what he figured what his bunk and lay down, closing his eyes. It seemed like Cloud's entire life was always about him, even before he had to save the world. He had kept coming back, even after the rest of AVALANCHE had died. Cloud had continued to fight him, trying to keep the battles small scale and away from towns. Even though he was always defeated, Cloud sometimes wondered if it was worth it. The nightmares returned after each sighting, and he spent his nights strapped to a metal table or back in the Nibelheim reactor for the first time, fighting Sephiroth.

The worst thing was he couldn't remember his friends. Sure, he could recall Yuffie's hyperness, or how much Cid swore, but the faces were faded. Zack he saw in his dreams, because through the first five years, they were rarely apart. But being back as a cadet made him think. Maybe, if it was real, maybe he could see them again. A small smile almost graced his face at that, but his heart sunk as he realized he would have to hind himself from some of his more perceptive and inquisitive allies to keep up his charade as a cadet.

"Why's my locker open, yo?"

Well speak of the red-headed devil himself.

 

 

Reno got back to the room first, just wanting to plop down on his bunk and sleep, ya know? He really couldn't see why the other cadets wanted to do this. It was only the thought that this was his chance to make it to full that kept him down here. That and the fact that Tseng would have his hide if he bailed.

What he did not want was to see the little blond cadet, who'd been missing in classes today, layin' on Reno's bunk with half the room's lockers open. Including his. He never would have thought those two events were related before today, but he couldn't find another option.

"Why's my locker open, yo?" he asked, and the kid –Strife?– snapped open his eyes. Then the kid totally choked on nothing and flung his fist into the bottom of the bunk Strife should be sleeping in. It looked like a pretty good punch too. Then the kid made this wicked snarling face and ripped down a poster Reno had put up to seem more normal. Not that he liked waking up to see the Silver Glory's face starin' back at him, but it was for the sake of the mission. Reno wanted a nickname of his own someday (the Red-Haired Wonder had a nice ring to it), and he wasn't going to give it up for a better night's sleep. Still, if this kid felt the need to randomly rip up posters of Sephiroth, he wasn't about to complain. But he might restate the question.

"I said, why's my locker open, yo?"

Strife blinked, then looked at him curiously before seeming to realize the situation and probably would have shuffled his feet a bit if he had been standing. "Um, well, you see…."

Reno growled. He knew the kid would lie, and it looked like the cadet knew he knew. "Just tell me the truth, yo. It's better for the both of us."

Strife's expression hardened very slightly. "You wouldn't believe me," he challenged, and Reno decided to take the bait. It's not like it would hurt to hear the kid's excuse.

"Just try me."

"I have amnesia and couldn't remember which locker was mine."

The disguised Turk smirked crookedly. "And you somehow 'remembered' how to pick locks?" he questioned, skeptical.

The cadet's face remained impressively blank, as it had been for most of the conversation. "I don't know what's going on either." That seemed like the truth. "I can't figure anything out." The blond shrugged, and the motion was so minute Reno almost missed it. "I told you you wouldn't believe me."

Reno rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yo, let's say I do believe you. Where were ya today?"

"Zack told me he found me unconscious in the hallway. Apparently I woke up when Sephiroth touched me and panicked. The General had to knock me out and Zack brought me to the infirmary where I woke up. Angeal soon entered looking for Zack. You can ask them if you don't believe me."

Reno mentally blinked. What is this kid, he wondered, and where did he come from? The weakling Strife I knew and could cross off the list of suspects would have just cowered in the corner and stuttered around a question like that. Hell, the Strife I know would still be in the infirmary! Reno put a hand to his forehead and sighed. I need to see Zack.

"I'm gonna do just that, and when I get back you better not still be on my bunk, yo."

 

 

Ten minutes later Reno was knocking on SOLDIER Third Class Zack Fair's door. The raven-haired boy opened it and let out a loud whoop, sweeping the protesting Reno into a hug. "Stop it, yo! Just because you're done growing doesn't mean-." His voice faded out when he saw the large figure standing behind his friend. "Sorry Angeal."

Angeal frowned, but Zack spoke before he could. "Naw, that's fine Reno, or should I say Cadet Reno?" The aptly nicknamed puppy let out a laugh. "This is great! You're gonna do so good on the exams that they'll have to make you a SOLDIER!"

Reno scowled. "I'm not a real cadet, yo," he growled, "Anyways, I was gonna ask you and Angeal if you a Cadet Strife?"

"I don't believe so," Angeal answered, one of his eyebrows raised in question. "Should we?"

Zack set Reno down, and he entered the room, closing the door behind him. "He said that you met him in the infirmary today, yo."

Zack grinned. "You mean Spiky? The little blonde chocobo head? Yeah, I brought him to get fixed up, but all the doctors found was the lump where Seph hit him. I think it was a bit too much for the kid though, because when he woke up he started yattering on about being dead, someone named Vincent, and sleeping."

The puppy paused for a breath and his mentor took the chance to cut him off. "What brought him to your attention?" Angeal asked, his glowing eyes appearing thoughtful.

Reno made a face. "I never would have suspected him before, yo, with him being such a weakling," he steadfastly ignored Zack's squawk of protest and continued on, "but he wasn't in class today and when I got back he was just sitting there on my bunk. That wouldn't have meant anything except that half the lockers in the room were open, and he still had picks in his hand, yo. When I asked him, he said he had amnesia and couldn't remember which was his. There's no way I was believin' that, yo!"

Zack was still rattling off something about his chocobo not being a weakling, but the First Class SOLDIER looked calculating and started probing Reno for more info. "Was there anything else strange about the room?" he asked carefully, silently compelling Reno to answer truthfully.

This guy should'a' been a Turk, he thought, summoning his memories of the discussion with Strife. "Yeah, now that I think about it, yo," he murmured, biting his lower lip in concentration. "When he opened his eyes he freaked after seeing the Sephiroth poster on the bottom of his bed, and I think the ripped up stuff in the trash might've been on The General too."

This made Zack stop his buzzing. "Who would rip up pictures of Seph? The cadets love him, don't they?"

Reno shrugged and looked at Angeal, who answered, "Yes. In fact, he's the only reason most of them are trying out for SOLDIER in the first place."

"Quite the poster-boy our Sephiroth is."

They all spun to face the newcomer, Angeal with a large smile on his face. "Genesis," he greeted, looking happy to see his old friend. "How was Junon?"

Before the red-coated man could answer, a high pitched shriek came from behind Reno and he looked over his shoulder, amused to see Zack trying to hide behind him. That was a bit hard, considering the apprentice Turk was much smaller than his friend. "Yo, Zack, you okay?"

"Keep him away from me!" the older boy screamed.

Angeal turned away from his pupil and towards the red haired SOLDIER. Genesis grinned wickedly. Angeal sighed. "Zack, we won't let him do anything to you, now come out here."

Zack inched his way out from behind Reno, glowering at Genesis all the while.

"Zack," Angeal called. The boy didn't respond. "Zack!" The puppy targeted his glare on Angeal. "Be nice, Zack."

Reno rolled his eyes. "Sorry to break up the party, yo, but if no one knows anything else I'll be going."

"Oh!" Zack shouted, causing everyone to look at him. He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "We still talking about Spiky? 'Cause I have his PHS."

Reno stared at him. "You have his PHS? No way, yo! How'd ya get it?"

Zack scooted back a little, probably not liking having Reno up in his face. Serves him right though, after all those time Zack carried him around. "He dropped it when he was freaking out in the infirmary."

Reno was disappointed. "You didn't steal it, yo? I thought I was rubbing off on you, yo. Can I see it?" Zack tossed him the phone and he went through the contact list, his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. He froze when he was halfway through, hand shaking slightly, and started yelling. "No way! No way, yo! That's just no possible!"

"What's not possible?" Angeal asked cautiously.

"Look at this!" he shouted, shoving the PHS in the SOLDIER's face.

Angeal's eyes flicked over the contact list. "You're right, it's impossible," he whispered, grabbing the phone from Reno and scrolling down.

Zack moved up to look over his mentor's shoulder. "What? What is it?" he whined, probably not liking being left out.

"Who's on there?" Genesis asked, a curious eyebrow raised.

Angeal breathed out slowly, gathering himself. Reno couldn't blame him, to see the people on there, most of them he didn't know, but some…. "Reeve T." Angeal stated, never taking his eyes off the screen. "Probably Tuesti, Director of the Urban Development Department. Normally I would say it wouldn't be, but Reeve isn't a common name. There's also Rude, he's a Turk, Reno, And Rufus S."

Zack gaped at him. "Rufus? As in Rufus Shinra? My little chocobo has some connections high up!"

"Zack," Reno groaned, "you're missing the point, yo. Strife has my number, and it's the right one. Yo, the only people who got my number are you, Tseng, and Veld."

Zack blinked at him. "You don't have many friends do you?" They all groaned at him. "Alright, alright, I do have a point though. I mean, why worry about it if we can't do anything about it?"

Genesis looked at them and brought out a little book, flipping open to a page dramatically. "Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess; we seek it thus and take to the sky. Ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest."

Reno stared at him. "Yo, your last name really fits you, ya know?"

Angeal looked thoughtful. "Loveless, act one," he commented, probably trying to figure out what Genesis was trying to say. "You want us to hand it over to Sephiroth?"

Zack gaped at his mentor. "How'd you get that out of a goddess swimming in mystery?"

His mentor smiled sympathetically. "It just takes practice, you'll get it eventually."

"Knowing Zack, he probably won't, yo." Reno broke in.

Ignoring the insult to his student, Angeal started to explain his thoughts. "Sephiroth has been really bored lately, so he's taken to wandering the SOLDIER floor looking for something to do. Shinra hasn't let him go on any missions and he was so desperate he did all of our paperwork and even agreed to baby sit the puppy while I was gone. Thus, he is the 'wandering soul'. The 'gift of the goddess' in this case is the enigma Cadet Strife. We are seeking the answer to the 'gift of the goddess', so we take to the sky, or incidentally, the floor above this one, half of which belongs to Sephiroth. He has the most time among us, and his mind will get no rest from thinking about it once we tell him about it. The 'ripples on the water's surface' are the different impacts Cadet Strife has had on situations. You could also call them the clues. So basically, we want to find out about Cadet Strife, so we go up a floor to Sephiroth. It will bug him like mysteries always do, and eventually he'll find out whatever the cadet is hiding."

A low whistle followed his speech and they all turned towards Reno, who was looking very much in awe. "Yo man, you figured this out in like, what, two seconds, tops? You really should've been a Turk, yo."

Zack glared at him, no doubt preparing for one of his epic marathon-length rants, as in, Reno could run a marathon in the time it takes him to finish. "No way! Angeal's the best SOLDIER ever!"

Genesis cleared his throat and Zack immediately quieted. Reno looked up at the flamboyant commander in surprise. "You gotta teach me that, yo."

Genesis's face scrunched up in disgust. "Me teach you? Not until you learn how to speak properly, 'yo'."

Reno jumped to his feet angrily. "You got a problem with the way I talk, yo?"

"No, I have a problem with the way you talk."

Reno's face twisted in fury and he opened his mouth to shoot something back, but Angeal cut him off. "Later I'll tell you everything about Strife, Genesis. Sephiroth will probably me more interested if we both present it to him."

A dry chuckle escaped the man's lips. "If he's as bored as you say, I think he would jump on the chance to do something even if the rat here talked to him about it," he said, nodding to Reno.

"I'm not a rat, yo!" yelled Reno, bristling.

One auburn eyebrow rose, it's owner obviously amused. "You're a Turk aren't you? Turks crawl around in dirty places, as do rats. You are sneaky and betray people easily and as betrayers are sometimes called rats, you are doubly a rat."

"Oh yeah? Well, well" Reno was breathing heavily now, trying to come up with something to say. "My hair is redder than yours is, yo!"

Genesis blinked slowly, looking at Reno's hair, then fingering his own. "You are right. I may have to change that."

Horror was evident in Reno's eyes, and he started inching towards the door, only to be stopped by the red haired SOLDIER. "I'll escort you to your room, if you don't mind. I need to see Veld anyway," he offered with a grin, reaching into his sleeve.

"Yo, I don't live on the Turk floor anymore. I'm bunkin' with Strife now, yo. There's really no reason for you to get mobbed by a bunch of midgets." Reno nervously pulled on the hem of his uniform, hoping the commander wouldn't think of an excuse to chop off his hair him right then and there.

"You and thee enigma are living together with short people?" Genesis asked with his head tilted to the side.

The apprentice Turk's fingers moved to pick at his nails, anxiousness written on his face. "Strife's a cadet, yo, and for now, so am I. Under cover mission, yo."

Genesis smirked crookedly. "A neon rat pretending to be a mouse with speech problems. How long do you think you'll last?" As Reno opened his mouth to answer the SOLDIER covered it with his hand. "That was a rhetorical question. Don't answer." He scrunched up his nose and removed his hand gingerly. "Was it really necessary to bite me? That was rhetorical too, by the way." He watched with morbid satisfaction as his flesh knit itself up, wiping the blood on his coat.

Reno made a face. "Your blood tastes nasty, yo. Prob'ly the Mako. See ya around Zack!" He ducked under Genesis's arm and strode out the door, trying to think of a way to protect his hair while he sleeps.


	3. Red Hair

Sephiroth sat at his desk, trying to think of ways to cut his hair. Not that he didn't like his hair, hi did, very much so, but it was the fact that he couldn't cut it that bothered him. Hojo had had someone try when he was little, but all the scissors had broken, unable to slice through his silver strands. He had even tried with the Masamune more recently; he had actually had to sharpen his blade after that.

So that's where he was when Genesis entered his office in his usual theatrical way, Angeal following quietly. He automatically tuned out whatever the red-haired SOLDIER was saying and returned to his ling, silver problem. Sephiroth could do everything besides a small number of mostly unimportant tasks.

He couldn't get Hojo fired

He couldn't cut his hair.

He couldn't whistle.

He couldn't snap.

Not that he tried all that often, but again, it frustrated him that there were some things he couldn't do. Returning to his earlier thoughts, Sephiroth searched his mind for other options. Genesis's Rapier has an ability that uses fire, doesn't it? Maybe if the sword was hot enough it would be able to cut through…. "Genesis, may I see your sword for a moment?"

Genesis glared at him. No doubt Sephiroth had interrupted one of his Loveless readings. "What are you going to use if for?"

"I'm going to cut my hair."

Genesis paled and backed away. "No! Did you even see what happened to the Masamune when you tried cutting it with that? It dulled the blade, and nothing had ever made that six foot monstrosity lose its edge."

A gloved hand grabbed the horrified man's shoulder and jerked him back. "What our dear friend here means to say is that we have a puzzle for you."

Sephiroth's attention focused on Angeal. "What kind of puzzle?"

His friend tossed something to him and he caught it reflexively. "That is a cadet's PHS. The same cadet that you found in the hall. After he woke up he started going on about being dead and AVALANCHE. No doubt it's on the security tapes. A Turk found him picking the locks of his bunkmate's lockers. There were also clippings and posters of you in the trash.

One of the General's silver eyebrows rose. "You want me to watch a cadet?"

Angeal nodded while his red haired friend shrugged. "You've been looking for something to do, haven't you?"

Sephiroth nods and they turn to leave before Angeal looks back over his shoulder. "He claims to have amnesia. Make sure to look at the contact list." The other SOLDIER First Classes file out of his office, carefully closing the door behind them.

Sephiroth flipped open the PHS. He did not consider himself technologically inept, but this… he had never seen anything like this before. He fumbled through the menus and eventually stumbled upon the contact list, but not before finding some interesting features, like a calendar. However amazing the PHS was, it was not the phone itself but what was on the contact list that shocked him. The president's son's number was on there, as well as the second in command of the Turks. There was also a Cid H., who he believed was heading the actual research of the space department. What would a cadet have to do with the Space Exploration and Urban Development Departments? He quickly dialed one of the numbers in his own phone, and was answered on the first ring.

"Who's this?" a curt voice answered.

"This is Sephiroth."

There was a pause, and some shuffling on the other end, probably because he had interrupted the person in the middle of something. The voice returned much more politely. "Sephiroth, it's nice to talk to you, but if I may ask, what is your reason for calling me?"

"Are you Rufus Shinra?"

There was another pause. The child was probably trying to figure out why he would call a number when he didn't know who it belonged to. "Yes, that's me."

"Do you know a Cadet Strife?

A longer pause that time. "Sir, I really don't think I'm the person to ask. I don't know any cadets, but I'm sure Heidegger has their files."

Very interesting. "Let me rephrase my question. Do you know why a Cadet Strife would have your personal PHS number?"

Sephiroth could almost hear the president's son's confusion. "A cadet has my number? No, I don't think I've given it out to any cadets. Is it important?"

Sephiroth hesitated momentarily. Was it safe to involve Shinra's heir in this? He had his suspicions about Rufus, but he couldn't care less about the president himself, as long as the company still existed. "I had to knock out the same cadet yesterday and he woke up raving about AVALANCHE."

"Isn't that that terrorist group?"

"Correct."

"I don't know much about them, sorry."

"That is fine." Sephiroth hung up, engrossed in his thoughts. This cadet had the president's son's PHS number, yet Rufus does not know him. Rufus most likely lied about knowing much about the terrorist organization that the cadet was talking about when he woke up, so he might have also lied when he said he did not know the cadet, but the boy had seemed genuinely confused.. Sephiroth supposed he might have given the recruit a concussion that made him unable to think clearly, but the AVALANCHE group would still have to be significant to him for him to talk about it. Could the cadet be a spy? Sephiroth dialed a new number, this time one not on the cadet's contact list.

"Hello?"

"This is Sephiroth, may I speak with Tseng?"

"Of course, one moment." To Sephiroth's knowledge, Tseng did not have a PHS, but he did not make a habit of conversing with the Turk. That was the reason he called Veld, and another was that he might inform the Department of Administrative Research about the cadet's suspicious behavior if Tseng did not already know of the boy.

"Tseng here."

"This is Sephiroth. I need to know if you have a PHS."

"I do not have one." When Tseng answered, there was no hesitation or traces of confusion. Turks did not ask questions or question motives, and Sephiroth sometimes wished he was the head of their department instead of SOLDIER.

Another reason he liked them was that they, with some exception, did not partake in pointless discussion. Unless they were dancing around classified information, they were blunt and to the point. "Do you know of Cadet Strife?"

Surprisingly, there was a long pause. "Does he have red hair?"

"I would not know."

"I am terribly sorry if he has been causing you trouble, sir. He is one of ours and is undercover."

"Thank you for your time." Sephiroth hit the 'end' button feeling somewhat disappointed. The cadet was a Turk; his puzzle solved. It really was too bad, Sephiroth thought as he reached for the Masamune's polishing cloth. Angeal did say something about Turks, didn't he? 'A Turk caught him picking locks', he said. Sephiroth realized what he had thought and froze with his hand on the desk drawer. If he was caught by a Turk, that would mean he wasn't a Turk. Sephiroth searched his memories for a the short encounter with Cadet Strife. It was when he was burdened with Zachary, wasn't it? Yes, he was that cadet in the hallway, the one who most definitely did not have red hair. He withdrew his hand from his desk and sheathed the Masamune; polishing his weapon could wait.

His fingers flew over the keyboard, and soon there was a picture of a fearful-looking, blond-haired cadet staring back at him. It definitely was the person Zachary had discovered on the way to the training room, and Sephiroth could see where the panic the cadet when seeing him came from, if this was how he looked normally. What he did wonder, however, was how such a small, timid cadet could cause so much trouble. He could not see the person in the picture in front of him as an enemy operative; he was too noticeable. Even if he was a spy, what could one find out as a cadet? Even janitors have a larger access area.

Sephiroth stared at the picture a little longer, studying the cadet's features. The boy was pale, and had probably lived most of his life indoors or under cloud cover. Fair hair and blue eyes suggested northern origins. Sephiroth scrolled down on the cadet's file. His full name was Cloud Strife, he was twelve, and came from a town called Nibelheim. That name triggered something in his mind, and he looked down at a pile of completed paperwork. There was a form he recently signed requesting a SOLDIER in Nibelheim, something about a dragon. He had assigned a new Second Class to do the job, but he went crossed the name out and put down Zachary Fair's. It would give the boy a reason to go to Nibelheim and while there he could investigate Cadet Strife. He would probably do it anyway, as he was the cadet's friend, but if he could get Angeal to hint about it and give him what the puppy would undoubtedly blurt out while endlessly chattering as he usually did, he would be able to tell if Cadet Strife was who he said he was.

Sephiroth closed out of the cadet's file and went back to cleaning his weapon, but his mind was still on the boy. Who are you supposed to be, Cloud Strife?

 

 

When Reno got back to his room he was glad to see Strife out of his bunk and in his own. Too bad everyone else was back, so he couldn't discreetly 'question' the kid. Maybe at dinner then. He took out his notebook, coded in numbers so it would look like it was class work at a glance, and added Strife to the list.

Ben Davis- looks built, too strong, hangs w/Bullid, hard to appr.

Andrew Bullid- smokes something, prob. has connections under, hangs w/Davis, hard to appr.

Jason Hittlin- meets w/dif. people daily, shifty look, hard to appr.

? Strife- suspicious activity, picks, amnesia? changed aura, contacts

Looking at his list, Reno could see that Strife probably wasn't the main person he was looking for, but something definitely was up with him. Maybe he was threatened? But that wouldn't explain the amnesia, or knowing how to pick locks. Hittlin was who he would have money on, but until he had proof, he had to stay here, so might as well try and figure Strife out. If he did have anything to do with it, Reno would get bonus points for cleaning up the whole group.

The noise level was starting to go down, and Reno saw that people were leaving. He smiled widely. The best parts in his day (though not by much) were the mealtimes. Even if the food was horrible mush that was probably scraped off the floor, it was food, and Reno loved food. He turned his notebook back to the cover and stuffed it in his locker, only pausing when he saw the Strife kid still gazing blankly at the ceiling. "Yo, Amnesia Boy," he shouted, grinning when the cadet turned to look at him. "You coming?"

The blond blinked. "Coming where? And don't call me Amnesia Boy."

Reno slammed his locker and started for the door. "It's too late Amnesiac, you responded to it, yo." Reno stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder. "I don't know about you, yo, but I'm kind'a hungry, and the next time we'll be able to eat is in twelve hours."

The red-head watched in amusement as the cadet scurried down from the top bunk and over to where he was standing. "Lead the way, yo," he said, gesturing to the open hallway.

Strife shook his head. "I am an amnesiac, as you so kindly reminded me."

Reno scowled. He had hoped to trick the kid into showing he was faking, then he wouldn't have that lousy excuse to hide behind. Not looking to see if the kid was following him, he marched down the hall, swinging the doors to the cafeteria open loudly and stomped to the back of the line.

Strife reached him and he turned around, smirking amusedly. His sudden turn around in mood seemed to throw the kid for a loop.

"Uh, Reno? Are you… alright?"

Reno's smile broadened. It seemed like the kid was just as socially awkward as he was before, considering his tentative question and the fact that he had ignored all the other cadets when they had come to put their stuff in their lockers before going to eat. "Yeah, yo. Perfectly fine."

Strife was shifting uncomfortably now, and Reno just loved making people uncomfortable. "You sure?"

"Yep."

A long pause. "Weren't you mad at me before?"

"Uh-huh. I thought you were faking, yo."

The cadet blinked. "So… why aren't you angry at me any more?"

Reno moved forwards in line, tossing over his shoulder, "Should you really be asking that, yo?"

The kid glowered at him. "Just answer the question," he growled, obviously fed up with his dancing around.

"I'm too lazy," Reno said finally, rolling his eyes when the cadet gave him a clueless look. "It takes energy to be mad, yo, with all that stomping around and slamming doors and nonsense like that. Being my normal sarcastic self is just so much easier, yo."

Strife just stared at him, probably thinking something along the lines of 'did he just make sense?' They moved farther in the line and after lots of hesitating and uncomfortably shuffling, the kid asked, "But isn't it work to be sarcastic?"

Reno just shook his head. "Naw, yo. I was born spoutin' sarcasm. It takes more work for me not be sarcastic than it does to talk the way I do." He smirked, then his grin fell off his face. "How d'you know I'm sarcastic, yo? I've said like, two words to ya."

Strife gnawed at his lower lip while Reno inwardly cheered. Yes! I've got him trapped! Now he has to tell me -, but then the cadet shrugged, murmuring, "You just seem like a person that would be sarcastic," and Reno's mind-cheerleaders dropped to the ground, sulking. The score was Strife 3 and Reno 0, but one of these times the Turk would catch him cheating.

It was finally their turn and Reno hurried through the table, dumping hulking globs of mush on his tray. He looked over his shoulder to see Strife still hesitating at the first one, and he decided to take over. He set his own tray on the nearest empty table and marched to the beginning again, stealing the giant spoon from the kid and putting another humongous serving on his tray with a wink. "That's the best part of being last, yo, you get everything that's left." He made a face at the next spot, cheese and potatoes, which was scraped clean. "But then again," he added, "All the good stuff's gone."

He set the cadet's tray across from his and started shoveling food into his mouth, ignoring the person across from him who was only picking at the mush. He finished in record time, even for him, and leant backwards against the wall. "Yo kid, you got a name?"

Strife looked up at him cautiously, probably wondering why Reno was obsessed with him. Not that he was, of course, he just wanted to figure him out. "Cloud Strife."

Reno stared wide eyed at him, trying to control his laughter. Cloud? Cloud? What kind of a name was Cloud? He finally gave in and snickered loudly behind his hand. Who names their kid after a fluffy thing in the sky, not to mention his last name basically meant problems. No wonder the kid was picked on so much!

Cloud just stared at him stonily as he laughed, which was kind of weird since he usually got upset when people teased him. Like those people who were just coming up behind him now….

"It's too bad you're here Strife. When you didn't show up this morning, we were all hoping you'd finally gone crying back home."

Cloud turned around slowly and looked up at the three in front of him. "Do you want something?" His expression didn't change, and Reno could see no sign of recognition in his face. Huh. Maybe the kid really did have amnesia.  
"Watch your back, Strife Next time you won't just get a bump on the head."

Malcolm and his lackeys walked away, and Reno studied the cadet in front of him. Maybe he did have amnesia, but it seemed like something else had happened. Strife continued picking at his food, finally looking up at the red head after about seven minutes of Reno staring at the kid. "Do you need something?" Cloud asked stonily.

"You've really changed, yo," Reno remarked casually, trying to get the conversation on the right track.

Cloud stared at him. "What do you want, Reno."

The red head grimaced. "I don't want nothin', just curious, yo. Ain't every day you meet an amnesiac." Not to mention he was acting very suspicious and Reno was an undercover Turk.

"You don't want anything."

Reno grinned. "Nope, not a thing, yo. But if you hear anything about where I could get some stuff, I would love ya' forever."

Cloud seemed to ignore him and continued eating, but after a little bit of pouting and looking extremely sad, the cadet looked up and sighed. "What stuff, Reno."

Yes! "Yo, you know, just stuff."

Cloud closed his eyes and put his head in his hands, giving up on his lunch. "What do you want? Alcohol? Weapons? Information? Money? Food?" the cadet then looked scornfully down at his tray, "I can see why you would want that."

The red head's smile turned smug. I've got him now, he just backed himself into a corner with barbed wire topping the fence. "Drugs."

Strife's head snapped up and a calculating gaze met his. "That's not a good thing to get into Reno," he spoke slowly, as if he was talking to a wild dog.

The red head's expression grew serious. "It seems like I'm not the only one into bad things, yo. Forgetting your past is a symptom of some Mako laced performance enhancers, and your eyes, while not glowing, are way too blue to be natural, yo."

The cadet stared at him incredulously. "You think I'm into Mako." He shook his head slowly and ran his hands through his hair before looking up sharply again. "Just how are my eyes unnatural while you're walking around with hair like that?"  
The young Turk's eyes flashed. "I don't die my hair, yo, and you'd better remember that, 'cause I'm not tellin' you twice."  
"Did I ever say you die your hair?"  
Reno blinked. Now that he thought about it, all the kid had said was that he should't go shooting down his eyes while walking around with his colored hair. He had just heard hair and unnatural and made an assumption. The red head made a face. "I guess your eyes aren't that crazy, yo."

Cloud ignored him, threw his leftover food away, and left the mess hall, presumably going back to the room. Reno watched him leave then turned to observe the other cadets, thinking that it seemed like Strife wasn't who he was looking for, but he definitely was something else.

It wasn't until later that night he realized that Strife had almost completely sidestepped his question.


	4. Insecurities

Contrary to what Reno believed, Cloud Strife did not return to his room immediately after dinner. Instead he was not quite aimlessly wandering the halls. Not quite because he was actually trying to find a map or maybe a list of what was on what floors at least, but it wasn't working so well. From what he had seen so far, the level he was on had the cadet cafeteria, dorms and classrooms. The gyms and VR rooms were three and four levels above the cadet one, and he thought the infirmary was a few above that, but he couldn't be sure because he hadn't exactly been in his right mind when he, well, woke up.

"And just what is a cadet doing here? Aren't you supposed to be learning how to not blow your heads off with materia or something like that?"

Cloud turned slowly to the red haired man, who was just coming out of a gym. "With all respect, sir," he spoke quietly, mentally sighing. Someone out there just wouldn't let him get a break, would they? "I am not sure where I am supposed to be or what I am or am not supposed to be learning, because I woke up earlier today with almost no memory of my previous time as a cadet and no one has since told me what I should do." A closer look at the man showed him to be a SOLDIER, probably a First Class as he had a red trench coat on and as far as Cloud knew Seconds and Thirds couldn't modify their uniforms.

The SOLDIER seemed surprised. "So you're that one? Oh, what's the name, Strife? I heard about you from Angeal's… thing."

Angeal's thing? How could a thing tel- Oh, Zack. "Do you mean Zack, sir?

A sneer graced the SOLDIER's face, and it felt like it was there often. "Yes, the puppy. Now scat. There's a reason cadets aren't allowed up here without supervision, and that's because I could very easily lose my temper and chop your head off." They just stood there staring at each other for a second, Cloud wondering how such a temperamental person could have made SOLDIER, but then again, Shinra didn't care what their employees were like, as long as they worked. Apparently he had been thinking too long because the man glared at him. "Go. Now."

And that was Cloud's first meeting with Genesis.

 

 

"Zack. Zack!"

The Third Class SOLDIER paused in his very animated storytelling and looked back up the hall. "Hold up a sec, will you Kunsel? Angeal wants something." Zack trotted towards his mentor and followed him back to the man's office, closing the door behind him and plopping into one of the cushioned chairs.

Angeal tossed him a stack of papers. "You're going to Nibelheim. Your job is to take care of some dragons that have been harassing the village. The chopper leaves in two hours. Good luck."

Zack took on an almost comical thinking pose. "Nibelheim, huh? That place sounds vaguely familiar…."

The First Class gave him a look. "Zack, don't get distracted on this one, okay? Nibel Dragons aren't a walk in the park, and if you want to get to Second you can't afford to botch this. Just, be careful, alright?"

Zack was startled. Angeal cared about him! Well, of course he did, he was his student, but he didn't want him to get hurt! A huge grin broke across his face and he jumped over the desk to hit his mentor with a flying hug. "Thanks Angeal! I'll be fine though, seriously. I fight dragons in the VR room all the time."

Angeal started to pry the puppy off him. "Zack, I know you can kill them, but have you even heard of Nibelheim?" Zack looked up at his mentor sheepishly and released him to sit on the desk. "I didn't think so. Nibelheim is a small town in the mountains, and it has a reactor near it. You haven't fought in any mountains yet, and you know how Mako affects monsters. Apparently Shinra has a mansion there, but no ones been there for a long time so it's probably falling apart. The people should be nice enough, and try and get a guide before you go running off. Knowing you you'll probably trip off a cliff and get lost."

Zack grimaced. "Hey! That only happened that once, and I finished the mission anyways," he grumbled, making faces at the ground.

"It took you two days to get back Zack. Just how you get lost five miles from Midgar when you can see the city on the horizon I will never understand."

Zack opened his mouth a few times, but when nothing came out he sighed. "Fine, I'll get a guide. Can I go now? Kunsel's waiting for me and I was telling him about that time the Zolom ate my sword and ended up killing itself."

Angeal stared at him. "That was rather, interesting, wasn't it? I don't know how you do it, pup. Thanks to you the science department found a way to acid proof weapons and armor."

The younger SOLDIER scowled. "They just had to confiscate it, huh? I was rather attached to that sword you know!" Not to mention that he ended up spending more time in the labs because of it.

"It was falling apart, Zack. The stomach acid of a Midgar Zolom is highly corrosive and there was no way we could've saved it anyway. I did get you a new sword after that, and it's not like you had to pay for anything, so stop complaining."

"Right, well, see ya later." The door opened quickly and Zack rushed out. "Hey, Kunsel! I got a mission!"

 

 

As soon as Zack's feet touched the ground he spun around, a huge grin on his face. "I'm good, thanks you guys!" The pilot nodded in acknowledgement and the huge aircraft turned to fade into the distance. As soon as the helicopter had vanished behind the mountains the SOLDIER Third Class drooped. Turning back up the trail to the small town Zack began the long walk.

"What was I thinking?" he mumbled unhappily. "Oh, sure Angeal, I'll be fine, don't worry about me," he mocked himself in a falsetto, "Yeah, absolutely dandy! Who cares that it's my first mission by myself out of Midgar and it's dragons, which I know are usually assigned to Second Classes. Obviously not me. Sure, I appreciate the vote of confidence and all, but how am I ever going to be able to fight dragons in mountains? Dragons can fly! Once I hurt them too much, off they'll go! Never to be seen by a black haired Gongagan again! What do you know, there's another problem. What were they thinking? Sure, let's send the inexperienced Third Class from the tropics to a mountain, I'm sure he'll be fine walking through all this snow and climbing over huge, ice-covered boulders." Zack growled at a squirrel on the path and kicked at it, making him lose his balance and fall flat on his face.

"Hello? Are you alright there?"

Zack felt his face burn, even pressed up against the snow-blanketed ground. He lifted his head and got to his knees. I hope it's not anyone important, like the mayor or something, he thought, they probably think I'm some kind of joke. Then he pictured how he must look, blue uniform speckled in white and a mask of snow on his face, and started laughing. Well, he thought, maybe I am a joke, but it's not so bad.

"Are you alright sir? Staying in the cold to long could cause hypothermia you know."

Zack blushed again. He had forgotten about his onlooker. "Uh, yeah I'm fine Ms…." He looked up at her and froze. Lifting a hand he rubbed at his eyes, clearing them of snow. The woman had blue eyes, and rather familiar blonde hair. "You don't happen to be related to a Cloud Strife, do you?"

The woman beamed. "You know Cloud? Is he doing well? I haven't gotten a letter from him and I was starting to get worried. He did make it into the cadet program, right? I was nervous that they wouldn't let him in for some reason and he would get stranded in the city."

Zack just stared at her. This woman talks a lot more than Spiky does, he thought. If it wasn't for their appearance I wouldn't guess they were related. "Yeah, Spike's fine. You're his mom?" receiving a nod he continued. "Yeah, he got in, but a couple days ago he hit his head of something and got amnesia. Don't worry," he added after seeing Mrs. Strife's distraught look, "he's perfectly fine, and he remembers you and Nibelheim and stuff, it's just the last two weeks or so he's forgotten." Zack hoped it was true. Spiky's mom seemed like a nice lady and he didn't want her feeling bad 'cause the little guy forgot her.

He stumbled to his feet and looked at Mrs. Strife questioningly. "The choppers not coming back for awhile, so would you mind letting me in your house for a bit to warm up, maybe tell you what's been going on with Spike?" Of course, he wasn't really cold, the Mako made sure of that, but he definitely wouldn't mind hearing some of Spiky's childhood stories. He knew from experience they made good blackmail. And if this town was anything like Gongaga, Cloud's mom would probably be thrilled to get news, and might just be willing to share her most likely excellent cooking.

"Oh, of course! Right this way, it's not far now. You're here because of the dragons, right? They've been causing trouble almost constantly for the past two months of so. First there was a just a decrease in the game population, but just last week one of Tyrfingr's kids was carried off. Such a shame, it was one of the best looking ones too."

Zack had been lingering behind her slightly; amazed that she could talk constantly at the speed she was walking. If not for his training and Mako, he probably would have been lagging behind. Then what she had been saying caught up to him and he froze. "What?" he screeched shrilly, "It ate a kid!"

Mrs. Strife looked back over her shoulder at him blankly, then her face morphed to look sheepish. "Sorry, not a human kid, a baby goat."

The SOLDIER's face burned. "Oh."

They eventually got up to the village, but for some reason Mrs. Strife's face darkened and she started walking quicker.

Zack, startled at the change and left behind because he had been looking around at the town, jolted back to himself. "Whoa! Wait up!" He hurried after Spiky's mom, but she didn't answer his unsaid question and continued marching on. A few moments later they came across some people. At first they just glared at the fair-haired woman, but after the SOLDIER came into view they studied him curiously.

"Converting another one, Skye?" One of them spat. He was middle aged, with grey streaks in his dark hair, and had a dark haired girl standing next to him.

Mrs. Strife, Skye apparently, glowered at him. "Just because you're a paranoid bigot with a bloated head doesn't mean people who aren't prejudiced are sending assassins after your insignificant bottom. I am not, in fact, 'converting' this young man here. He's the SOLDIER sent by Shinra to take care of the dragon problem. And don't you start on him about how I'm such a profane infidel and am going to eat his first born with cranberry sauce because he's friends with my Cloud and won't be daunted by a repulsive chauvinist like you, Lockhart."

Zack stared at her, lost in his wonderings. Cranberry sauce? What? Seeing the groups expectant looks he tried to get over the, what? Weirdness? Awkwardness?, enough to come up with something that wouldn't sound completely dumb. "Yeah, that's me, SOLDIER Third Class Zack Fair, at your service, um, sir?"

Skye smiled at him brightly before turning back to Lockhart. "As you can see, mister mayor sir, we were just on our way to take care of that dragon, so if you'll just excuse me. Oh, and Tifa dear, I made some cookies if you want to come with." At that she continued on, her step obviously lighter. After traveling a few meters she realized Zack wasn't following and turned back. "You coming Zack?" She actually sounded kind of worried like… he didn't know what like.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming," he responded shakily.

Her smile was all he needed to know he had made the right choice. I mean, he was her son's friend, or at least she thought he was, so she wouldn't really eat him… would she?


	5. Small Explanations

"Reno, if I let you take me on this tour, will you stop bothering me?"

The other cadet stared at him. "But you're not even doing anything, yo! You're just sitting there doing absolutely nothing while you could be trying to relearn the Shinra building or something." Cloud had noticed the red head had the habit of gesturing enthusiastically, something he had apparently grown out of before. In the future. Whatever.

"Fine, I'll go, but you have to stop bothering me," he sighed. In all honesty, the impromptu tour would probably do him good. His previous explorations had been cut short, and he really didn't know what floors he would need to know.

The future Turk grinned wickedly. "I make no promises, yo." Then he grabbed Cloud's arm, ignoring it when the smaller cadet tensed under his grip.

Being dragged through an amused crowd of teenagers by a scrawny red head, Cloud decided, was not something he wanted to experience twice. If only his younger self wasn't so weak…. "Reno, let me go. Now."

"But Clouuudy, I don't wanna let you go!"

Cloud glared at him. "Reno, if you're not off of me in the next five seconds I will completely ignore you for the rest of the year."

The red head stared up at him dolefully. "You wouldn't do that, yo. That would be cruel and you're going to be the most honorable, chivalrous, nice SOLDIER ever. Being mean goes against your code, yo."

Cloud just looked at him. "One," he growled, "and even if I do somehow end up beating Angeal in the honor department, I'm not a SOLDIER now and I wouldn't have a 'code' even if I was. And even if for some reason I did have a code it wouldn't apply to you."

"But Clouuudy!"

"Don't call me Cloudy."

"But it fits you so nice, yo. Your head's all fluffy and stuff."

"Three."

"Whaat? You skipped Two!"

"Four."

"Alright, yo, I'll be good," he professed, dropping Cloud's arm and backing against the wall.

More than a few moments of silence passed before Cloud sighed and looked back up at the other cadet. "There was going to be a tour?"

Reno brightened. "Right, yo! Down that way's the classrooms, like History of Shinra and Materia Theory and crap like that. That stuff's in the morning, yo, prob'ly so we're not sleeping in class or somethin', not that it makes much difference." The red head set off down the hallway in the other direction, not even bothering to check if he was following. "This hallway's all cadet rooms, even the ones from different areas, like the pilots and whatnot." Reno stopped to look at him severely before continuing, "Yo, you want to stay away from the science and Turk people if you wanna make it to SOLDIER. If you're too good or too smart and stuff they'll pluck ya' right out of the program."

Is that what happened to you, Reno? Cloud wondered, Did you really want to be in the military? Somehow he couldn't see the boy as SOLDIER. It wasn't so much his build that was the problem, though that didn't help, as much as his attitude. Soldiers need to be disciplined if nothing else, and even Zack listens to a superior officer with respect.

"Moving on, yo," Reno chirped, oblivious to Cloud's wonderings. "If you go to the end of the hall and hang a left, there's a stairwell. But if you go right, like we are now, yo, there's the cadet gyms and shooting range. The physical combat courses in the gym, and right now we're just learning hand-to-hand. In the long range one we're taking apart and cleaning different guns and stuff." They stopped in front of double doors. "This is the main gym, it's open anytime." Reno stopped for a moment and looked at Cloud again, almost curiously. "If you want, yo, we could go in and see what you remember."

 

 

"So…" Zack started after finishing what was on his plate. Cloud's mom really was a good cook, as he had found out soon after the confrontation. "What was that all about, on the way here?"

Skye sat down across from him. "Not much, really. Just that ever since he became mayor Tifa's dad's been a controlling bigot. He's so arrogant, I'm almost surprised his head can still fit through the door."

Zack chuckled at the picture. Mr. Lockhart did seem a mean, but he felt like there was something more there. "But that's not all is it? I mean, I think there was something about converting me in there?"

Mrs. Strife sighed. "He is a bit more… modern than I am, I guess. I've stayed with the old faith, because even if I don't quite believe it myself, I still love it. He basically says anyone who thinks different from him is wrong. That would've been bad enough on it's own, but on top of that Cloud's dad practiced the Wutaian beliefs."

The dark haired SOLDIER blinked at that. Cloud? Wutaian? What? "Um, so that makes Cloud part Wutaian too? I really can't see it."

Skye smiled. "His dad Wutaian, he just practiced they're religion. He grew up in Wutai, his parents having moved there for one reason or another. He felt that the people of Wutai were much more accepting of differences, as long as you weren't hostile. It really is a pity, the war."

She opposed the war! Did that mean she was against Shinra? But then why would she let her son work for them? "Yeah, the war. Well, um, I should probably get going. By the way, did your son ever learn to pick locks?"

She looked startled, almost insulted. "My Cloud is no thief! Why would I teach him something like that?"

Zack shifted uncomfortably. "No, I, uh, didn't think you would. It's just that, ah, never mind. Bye!" He rushed out the door, happy to be out of that conversation. He honestly liked Cloud's mom, but she didn't like Shinra, and he worked for Shinra, and he probably just offended her. He really needed to work on his diplomacy.

Zack came out of his thoughts to realize he was on the edge of town. He needed to find a dragon, right? So would it be better to wait for it to come find something to eat near the town, or go after it? Skye had said it eats goats, but not only did he not know how often a dragon needed to eat, he also had no clue where the goats were. Into the mountains it was.

An hour later Zack was starting to regret his decision. Sure this might end up being faster, but he had had no clue just how exhausting hiking through snowy mountains was.

"How am I supposed to find a dragon like this?" he shouted, plowing through a snow bank. Suddenly the snow gave out beneath him and he started falling. His hands scrabbled at the ice he had been standing on, but it was no use and he slipped past. As his fingers slid below the surface his thoughts were, 'Angeal's going to have something to say about this.'

He landed shortly after with a sickening crack. Sharp shards of something stabbed into his back and the bleeding cuts stung when they came into contact with a thick liquid of some sort. "Why does this always happen to me?" Zack groaned. After a minute or two he opened hiss eyes to find that the shards were about a quarter inch thick and mostly blue with red specks. The goo was mostly clear, but some yellow puddle on the ground too. Actually, it looked kind of like― Oh. Oh no.

He leapt to his feet just as a roar shook the cavern. He spun around desperately, trying to catch sight of the monster that was doubtless going to attack him. "Come on, come on," he mumbled searching the dim cave with Mako-eyes.

Then his enhanced ears caught a slight beating sound. Like wings. He looked up to see a blue, scaly surface filling the hole he fell through. Zack ran backwards, drawing his sword. A resounding crash filled his ears and the blue dragon burst through the ceiling. He raised his broadsword to deflect any ice chunks that were falling towards him, trying in vain to keep an eye on the monster at the same time. He caught a flash of blue through the falling debris to his left and whirled around.

Zack jumped backwards as the dragon took a swipe at him, only to lunge forwards as it recovered, hoping to land a counterattack. He scored a hint on its left shoulder, but it wasn't very deep and he was startled at how tough the scaly skin was. He danced backwards again, narrowly evading getting clawed open. Another glimpse of blue was all the warning he got before he was in the air again, this time thrown by one of the dragon's heavy wings. His right side hit the wall and he slumped to the ground, temporarily out of it. The SOLDIER soon regained his senses and tried to move away as the blue-skinned beast thundered towards him. He tried to scramble on all fours, but soon found his right arm couldn't bear his weight. He did a quick roll to the left before scurrying towards his abandoned sword. He grabbed his blade with his only usable hand before turning swiftly and holding his sword braced against the ground. The diving dragon tried to pull up and away, but it was already too close and speared itself on Zack's reinforced steel. The dragon collapsed, knocking the SOLDIER back to the ground and draping him under one of its ridiculously heavy wings.

He groaned, crawling slowly out from beneath the dragon. He stretched his broken arm out along the ground, trying to at least mostly straighten it before it healed the wrong way. After he was mostly sure it was lined up he felt for his bracer, concentrating on one of the green orbs inside. He felt a warmth ghosting over his back and arm, healing the cuts and making his broken arm stable.

Once the Materia stopped he sat up, being careful not to upset his arm. He reached into a pocket with his left arm and pulled out his PHS. Dialing was a bit awkward with only one hand, but he managed and held the phone up to his ear. On the second ring a tired-sounding voice answered, "Hello?"

Zack twitched. Oops, he thought sheepishly, time difference, right. "Hey, Angeal? Could you send a ride to pick me up? Have them bring a long rope or something with them too, alright? Tell them to look for a big hole in the mountains."

There was an extended silence on the other side. "Right, I'll send someone over. Rope, big hole, right. It'll be awhile." A click signaled he had hung up.

Zack set down the phone, sighing. Right now he could really use some of Skye's cooking. Or a bed. Yeah, a bed sounded nice right about now. He lied back down and started to count the number of scuff marks on his boots. Then he counted the number of rocks between him and the wall. He was actually about to fall asleep too, before something cold and wet landed on his face. He looked up through the hole the dragon had made to see storm clouds gathering. Wonderful, he thought, it's snowing. He scooted over to the dragon and wriggled under its wing again. "It's better than nothing," he mumbled, before trying to fall asleep again. The snow had woken him up though, and it seemed like he wasn't even tired anymore, so he started to count the number of scales he could see.

After around an hour and a half he growled in frustration and pulled out his PHS again. He dialed a different number this time, and it was answered on the fourth ring.

"Go away, yo," the Turk mumbled, exhaustion dripping from his voice.

"No! Wait!" Zack shouted, thinking his friend was about to hang up. "Reno, I need help."

"What?" the red head snapped, obviously annoyed Zack had disturbed his sleep.

"I'm bored."

A pause. "'Night, yo,"

"Stop!"

A click, then silence.

"I hate you."


	6. Crazy

He feinted to the left before swinging a fist at the kid. It was headed straight towards his ribcage before it was impossibly dodged. The kid would have been no where near fast enough to dodge that before, Reno thought. Everything about him's been changed. Reno decided to settle back on the defensive, see what the other cadet knew about attacking. Strife lunged towards him, but the blonde stumbled and Reno slipped to the side. The kid's expression was priceless as he over extended his arm. Reno grabbed his wrist and threw him, watching as he rolled and got back to his feet. It was strange, like he knew what to do, just that he wasn't used to it or something. He couldn't even do a basic block without being off a little. Not enough to really make a difference, just as though he thought he was at a different angle or something. It was weird.

"That's enough, yo." Reno panted. The kid obviously wasn't fit, but that would soon change with all the training they'll be doing. "So," the Turk questioned, "do you know what's going wrong?"

Cloud just shook his head, but Reno doubted he didn't know for some reason. "You're overextending everything, yo. You're angles are also off, like you're expecting to be a different height or whatever, but I doubt you had a growth spurt recently 'cause you're, like, two feet tall. Yo, you're also way more aware than most of the cadets are, which is a good thing, but makes everything that much more complicated. I just don't get it, yo." Reno paced around the room not quite oblivious to the still heavily breathing cadet's uneasy looks. Yep, the kid was hiding something, and the junior Turk would find out what it was if it was the last thing he did. Not that it would be.

Reno turned back to the cadet, restraining a sigh. "It's almost curfew, yo. We better be gettin' back." He led Strife back to their room, lost in his thoughts. Being a cadet is so boring. I hope the mission's over soon. But what if I spend all this time figuring out Strife then it's not him? I won't be able to stand a whole month of relearning this stuff.

"Reno."

But then again, something's up with him. If he's a spy or something and I catch him I'll be promoted to a real Turk and get my own partner! I hope whoever I get's not some by-the-book guy like Tseng. Then I wouldn't be able to sneak up onto the roof anymore, or mess up all the science department's paperwork, or paint chibi Rufus's and Sephiroth's or President's or all of the other head's on the outside of the building. Actually, I don't think I'll be doing that anyways, all those stairs…

"Reno."

The redhead whipped around. "What, yo?"

The real cadet hesitated, probably unsure what to make of his snappish response. "Do you know a SOLDIER with a red trench coat and hair?"

Reno paled. "Genesis? Where was he? Was he by our room, yo?"

Strife was staring at him. Reno yelped and grabbed his ponytail to bring it around to his front, searching through it desperately. "No, it wasn't anything like that, I just saw him from a distance and he seemed familiar."

Reno glanced back up at him, still fingering his hair. "You sure?" Strife nodded. "Well, tell me if you see him 'gain, yo."

The cadet nodded slowly, still giving him a strange look. Reno grinned widely at him. "Thanks for that, yo. Anyways, that guy's a First Class, best friend of 'Geal and Sephiroth. I'd stay away from him if I was you, nasty temper." Strife nodded in agreement, and Reno danced around in his head. One down, six more to go. No one threatens my hair and gets away with it. Especially not some jealous jerk like him.

"He's friends with Sephiroth?"

Reno sighed. So much for one down. Hearing that, he'll probably beg to do the guy's every whim. "Yeah, them and Angeal, yo. Seph's the General and they're the Commanders." The cadet was obviously confused, but there was no way that was getting.' any clearer.

"I guess I just didn't realize the General ever had friends." And with that Strife faded out again, headed off to dreamland or whatever.

"You thought Sephiroth didn't have friends?" Reno snorted, "Everyone needs friends, yo, even generals."

Not bothering to wait for an answer the older boy quickened his pace. Everyone does need a friend, right? And everyone has one, mostly. At least someone they can talk to without them walking away or insulting them or whatever. So why would he think Sephiroth doesn't have friends? Maybe, maybe he doesn't have a friend? Now that I think about it, everyone was pretty mean to him. But surely he has someone who likes him at home, right? Surely a teacher or someone is fond of him, at least. But if he doesn't… If he doesn't he's gonna go crazy!

Yeah, but who cares if he's crazy? A different side of his thoughts asked. Not me, that's for sure. Get a hold of yourself, Reno. You're a Turk, and Turks don't care.

"Stop it!" he growled, earning another look from the kid. I think I'm the one going crazy, talking to myself it my head. I cross bridges when I come to them and burn them if I don't want anyone to follow. I don't decide to take time building them for other people!

"Move."

Reno spun around. "What?"

Blue eyes met his levelly. "You're in the way. Move."

Then Reno realized he was standing in the doorway. "Sor-ry, yo," he drawled dully, "I figure if you get to go cloudy all the time I should be able to get lost once and a while." Strife scowled, and Reno grinned in triumph. "Don't like name jokes, yo? You better get used to them, Cloud."

Strife glowered at him. "Just move, will you?"

The red head stepped aside to allow the kid room. "Wonder what's got him all worked up, yo," Reno muttered as he followed the cadet back to their bunks. "'Suppose I wouldn't want my memory gone either, but he doesn't have to be all huffy about it."

 

 

"Go 'way, yo."

Cloud blinked open his eyes and looked around blearily. Was Reno talking to him? That didn't make any sense. Must be talking to a different cadet.

"What?"

Okay, he was pretty sure no one in the room had answered, so either Reno talked in his sleep, or he was on a PHS in the middle of the night. Both semi-unlikely options, but more way more impossible things had happened. Say, Sephiroth getting possessed by an alien and bringing down a meteor to destroy the world.

"'Night, yo."

He heard a small click, then some rustling noises as the cadet rolled over to go back to sleep. A PHS it was. He made sure not to move until the breathing below him steadied out and slowed down.

Cloud stared at the spotted ceiling above. Reno had a phone? They were still pretty expensive if he remembered correctly, and he wasn't even sure if cadets were allowed to have one. They very well could be, he supposed, but even if they weren't Reno wasn't one to follow the rules.

The time traveler rolled over slowly, careful not to make any loud noises. He probably should go back to sleep, but his mind was still set to getting little rest, not to mention he was a bit of an insomniac. Dreams bring up memories cleared than you could do on purpose, and they were rarely good ones.

But maybe… maybe he could change things this time. If he could become a SOLDIER, or at least get Mako somehow, maybe he could stop Sephiroth from ever getting to Nibelheim. He would kill Jenova, that was for sure, but would that be enough to stop Sephiroth from going crazy? He doubted it. There were Jenova cells in all the SOLDIERs now, so he didn't think that was a risk he wanted to take.

And Genesis. Genesis ended up the same way as Angeal, right? No, he got involved in Deepground, didn't he. So there is a cure then. If he found it in time, Zack wouldn't have to kill his mentor. Maybe if Sephiroth hadn't lost his friends, there would've been hope for him.

But if Sephiroth was still in the picture, Shinra would be a lot harder to take down. And Shinra had to go because it really was killing the planet.

I should go see Aerith, he thought, maybe she'll be the Aerith I'm used to, or she might know something at least. I also need to get used to fighting again.

Cloud had learned a lot from the match with Reno. For one, he was really slow. Compared to the other cadets he was probably about average, but because he was used to being faster he tried to do things he couldn't pull off anymore. He also had to be careful not to try moves too advanced than what he should know. More than a few times he would have to let himself be hit if he wanted to keep his cove. The thing that most disturbed him though, was that his body didn't do exactly what he told it to. Not only was there a complete lack of muscle memory, but he was used to moving at a different height and limb length, so he was no where near as smooth in his movements and gave openings when his motions got more choppy.

He thought for a while longer, mapping out possible plans in his head. What could he do? He needed Mako to beat Sephiroth, and the only efficient way of getting that was to be a SOLDIER. But working under Sephiroth… he would have to. The only chance he had of killing the General was becoming First Class. He had four years to do. He was pretty sure Zack made it in less than that, and he didn't have memories of the future to help him. In the meantime he would try to find the cure to degradation, maybe Bugenhagen could help with that. Nanaki would need to be warned or freed, and he would probably have to prove himself trustworthy to get their help. If he didn't make SOLDIER he would move back to Nibelheim, kill Jenova and burn all the books and research, fake or not, in the mansion. Doubtless Hojo had made copies, but it would at least delay the inevitable. The only question in Nibelheim was what to do with Vincent. I won't wake him unless necessary, Cloud decided. Everyone he used to know is dead, and living forever is painful, to say the least.

If there was one thing he was the most unsure about, it was what would happen with Zack. He wasn't sure if he could just ignore his once and future friend, for it seemed like his only true friend ever. Most of the time it felt like the others had just befriended him for his fame, strength, Materia, or even just so they could all live through the end of the week. Even with Vincent, who had obviously been the closest as he had been the only one still living, it was probably more that they had no other options. If people had found out they were immortal, they would've been hounded for their secret, and with the more advanced technology they might've been able to find it. While that would've led to more companions, it would've brought back the use of Mako, and they might've been able to reproduce a Jenova. That was the last thing they needed.

Reno stirred below him. Cloud looked at the glowing clock and saw that it was almost five. What time are we supposed to get up? I guess I'll find out, but in the meantime, I'll look around a bit. He leapt to the floor almost silently and started around the room. There room was just big enough to fit all the beds and a walkway in the middle, except halfway down on the left side there was a gap between the beds and another door. He opened it slowly and stepped out onto the cold floor.

It was obviously supposed to be the bath/shower room, with eight shower heads in the middle and four stalls on either side, along with a few sinks opposite them. The door on the other side of the long room presumably connected to another room of cadets, so that would mean only half of them could take a shower at a time. There wasn't anything really interesting about the room besides that the lights were dimmed, not shut off., so he slunk back into the darker room and softly shut the door behind him.

He climbed up the flimsy ladder to his bunk and climbed in, prepared for a few more hours of pretending to be asleep before heading off to learn things he probably already knew.


	7. Boots

He wasn't the best in the class.

He wasn't even average.

He was dead last.

Who knew missing a week's worth of material in a cadet class could make him so far behind, especially when he had gone through this course once before? True, he couldn't remember almost all of it, and half of that was seen through Zack's eyes, but still, he should be excelling. He should've picked up facts during the rest of his life, even on such a dull topic.

But really, who knew Shinra's first president's birth date?

Apparently all the cadets did. Even though half of them didn't seem to pay any attention at all during the hour they spent learning about Shinra History, they still ended up knowing it somehow. There was probably a parade or something in Midgar on the day, but that wasn't the point. Why oh why did he have to come back on the day of a test?

They probably would've been easy questions if he had been here for the past week, but apparently his mind had been off relaxing 300 years into the future instead of learning how tall the Shinra Tower was planned to be. He couldn't even remember what Rufus's father's name was.

In the Shinra History class, it turns out that they take and correct tests on the same day. So after he was done scrapping his mind trying to figure out how many square miles Midgar was, he was publicly humiliated by the fellow recruit who had graded his test sharing with the whole room how badly he had done.

But hey, at least he had gotten one right, right? Even if it was only because when he read the question he could almost see the 4 and the 9 on the grey door splitting apart before prancing in. Obviously, it was Zack's memory. Cloud didn't prance.

Luckily History of Shinra was over, and now he was drifting with the crowd to his next class, whatever that might be. Hopefully it was something a little more useful. I mean, Shinra information is all well and good, statistics like how many are in Wutai, guard rotations, all the different Shinra outposts, and even how much Mako it takes to power one sector of Midgar, but when in their career in the military would they ever need to know what year the Shinra company was created?

"Hey Spiky!"

Zack? Cloud turned around quickly just in time to see his black-haired friend hurtling towards him at near mach speeds. He let out a quiet "oof" as he was thrown to the floor, the other cadets moving out of the way. "Zack," he groaned, "what was that?"

The weight pressing on his body lifted as the SOLDIER got to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, Spike. I just saw you then got so exited, but then I tripped, and why would anyone keep a boot in the middle of a hallway?"

A boot? Cloud looked back the way he came, and sure enough there was a black, SOLDIER-issue boot sitting in up against the wall. It probably actually had been in the middle of the hallway, but Zack tripping on it had probably flung it away. Speaking of boots, why in the world was Zack running around in his socks? "Zack, is this your boot?"

He glanced down at his feet before throwing another huge grin Cloud's way. "Angeal said I should work on my agility, so I figured if I can dodge and stuff in my socks, I'll have no problem in the simulator!" he explained, "But no, I don't think that is my boot. It looks too small." He stared at the boot in consternation before straightening and running off back down the hall. "Sorry, gotta go, I left my shoes in Kunsel's room and I don't want Genny to light them on fire!" he called over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

Cloud stood there for a few moments before turning with a sigh and hurrying to catch up with his classmates, boot in hand. Was Zack always this crazy? He vaguely remembered an incident involving one of his friends toenail clippers and one of the Firsts, so he probably had been. What he couldn't figure out was who Jenny was, and why she would light his boots on fire if they were Kunsel's room.

Shrugging internally, he followed the second-to-last person into the room and chose a seat at the back. Inexplicably, this year's group seemed to be smaller than normal, which didn't make any sense at all because he had thought Shinra propaganda and hero worship of Sephiroth was at its peak, what with the war in Wutai starting. Then again, there might be so many cadets that they had to be split into groups. Either way, there was no lack of open seats, so he was somewhat surprised when a certain red head came over to sit by him.

"This is the Mechanics, yo, so pay 'tention. This's one class you don't want to sleep in. Punyard's crazy, yo."

The corners of Cloud's mouth lifted a little. Of course Reno would like the Mechanics class. After everything was over he and Cid had made a new airship, which had been the fastest on the market for a whole decade before it had been overtaken by one designed by the next generation of grease monkeys. He had been a little surprised that they got along so well, Reno having been a Turk and all. But apparently flying was more important than old grudges.

As the class carried on, however, Cloud found out that Reno's love of machines wasn't the reason he was warned not to fall asleep. Mr. Punyard did seem crazy, constantly flailing about with his pointer and yelling at kids who weren't paying attention. Cloud was suddenly very glad he had sat in the back.

Suddenly the door opened and someone with familiar black hair skidded in. The whole room was absolutely silent as the person froze a few feet in. Mr. Punyard had turned a bright orange, while all the blood had drained from Zack's face. "Sorry," he squeaked, holding his boots in front of his face as a shield, but unfortunately for Zack that seemed to be the thing that set Punyard off. The man exploded, screaming and lunging for the SOLDIER who had bolted for the door. Zack fled the room, but maybe it was a bit too quickly because soon something hit the wall of the classroom with a thump before Punyard's yelling grew more distant and eventually disappeared.

Reno got up and left after a moment of silence, smirking at the rest of the class over his shoulder as he went through the doorway. It was almost the end of class anyway, so Cloud followed a bit later, boot in tow. He actually didn't know why he was still bringing the boot along with him, but he didn't really care, as he'd probably just throw it away later. He heard a shuffle of feet behind him and figured everyone else was coming too.

Suddenly a weight pressed down on his and he jerked away. He spun around, and was mildly surprised not to see one of the three who he had encountered at dinner last night. The boy had medium length, light brown hair and pale gray eyes. Unsurprisingly he was a taller than Cloud, and holding his hands in the air to show his 'innocence.'

"Sorry, kid. Don't know what you were expecting, but I guess it's none of my business either. Cloud, right?" The boy sounded apologetic, and Cloud supposed most people don't freak out when you touch them.

Cloud studied him for a bit longer before nodding his acceptance. "Yeah, Cloud. You?"

The brown haired boy smiled. "Ian. I would say nice to meet you, but we've already met. Heard you got amnesia, was going to offer to show you around."

Cloud shook his head. "Reno gave me a tour," he said, following on the left of the other cadet to their next class.

Ian glanced at him with a worried expression on his face. "You should stay away from him, Reno, I mean. He's no good for you." When Cloud made a neutral humming noise he continued. "Seriously, he's bad news. He doesn't really hangout with anyone for more than a few days before moving on, like he's looking for something. Word is he's trying to find drugs." Ian shuddered. "I think he's from the slums. I mean, just look at that ratty hair, no respectable person would grow it that long. He doesn't even talk right, with all of his yos and gonnas and ain'ts. He'd probably kill you if he got paid for it."

Now Cloud was struggling to keep from laughing. Sure, the cadet probably meant well, but really? "Look, Ian. What do you think we signed up for with this whole SOLDIER thing? The whole point of an army is a group of people killing other people and getting paid for it. And he's not going to get into anything, you can be sure of that. Even if I have to rip a needle out of his arm. Goodbye."

 

 

What was that all about? Reno wondered in shock. It's not like the kid to give a speech-thing, even a short one. That was probably the most he had said since I met him. And why would Cloudy-boy care so much what he did? Sure, he was probably the only person here that the kid knew, but what did he have against drugs? Sure, everyone knew they were bad for you, but that kid hated them with a vengeance. Maybe, revengeance? That was probably it. Someone the kid knew got messed up on something addictive, maybe even Mako-laced, and now he thought Reno was looking for the same thing. That could be a problem.

One of the better things that came out of that little eavesdropping session was that word had gotten out he was looking for a chemical substance. Sure, they probably didn't know what kind, but something was better than nothing, even if that something was invisible and by word of mouth. One thing Reno had learned in training was that despite there often being a nut of truth in rumors, people were inconsistent and stories always changed. That was also a reason they wrote reports.

But the real question was why Cloud was carrying a boot.

After Cloud distanced himself from the Ian guy Reno slipped up beside him. "Tear a needle out of my arm, yo?" he asked, chuckling. "What's with boot, anyways?

Cloud turned to him, not at all surprised he had heard the conversation. That was something to note for later. "I'm not actually sure," he replied, looking at the boot in confusion. "But you're not going to inject random substances into your bloodstream. I won't let you this ti-." Cloud froze in the middle of the word, horror spreading across his face.

This time? Reno asked silently, smirking at the kid smugly. Point for revenge. "So who was it, yo?" he questioned quietly, not wanting his answers being shouted out for everyone to hear. "Mom? Dad? Sister? Brother?" After a pause Reno thought of another one, having seen no reaction from the kid. "Close friend?"

Cloud jerked away from him, growing pale and dropping the boot, and Reno grinned triumphantly "Yes! I knew it!" he yelled, drawing everyone's attention. "Don't worry Cloudy, I'm not gonna go and die on you. I'm just finding out who has what for," he hesitated racking his brain for an excuse. "A friend down under, if ya know what I mean," he whispered, and the kid nodded numbly, off in his own little world again.

Reno set off again, to take only a few steps before noticing his tag-along was not tagging along. He strode back and grabbed the cadets' arm to drag him off to Tactics and Strategy. Seriously, the kid would be late to everything without him.


	8. Assuming

Tactics and Strategy was, in Cloud's opinion, the best class so far. It was a mixture of dissecting past battles and discussing the merits of various weapons, with a little 'what would you do in this situation' thrown in on the side. That was the last class of the morning, and afterwards Reno led him back to the cafeteria. They had the same glop for lunch as they had for dinner and breakfast, unsurprisingly.

As he settled down next to Reno at the back of the room, a certain brunette approached, eliciting a scowl from the Turk-to-be. "What you want, yo? Did your friends dare ya to come sit by the street-rat, and you did 'cause you want to prove your bravery? Did you and them think I'll rip your throat out? might want to turn 'round now, yo, 'cause I'm not in a good mood and might just consider it."

Ian sat down across from them and smiled nervously, avoiding their eyes. "Why aren't you in a good mood?" he asked timidly, stabbing his mush with a plastic fork.

"'Cause you're breathin' my air, that why!" Reno roared, getting to his feet. "So you better leave, yo, unless you're wantin' to get your organs spread across the table."

Cloud jumped up, grabbed the Reno's arms and pulled them behind him, hanging on them to keep his companion from jumping over the table. "Get a hold of yourself!" he growled lowly, struggling to restrain the angry cadet.

The red head slowly relaxed, and Cloud let go, allowing him to get back to his feet. Reno glared at him mulishly before brushing off his pants and sitting back down to attack his food. Cloud sighed and sat down as well, glancing up at the terrified cadet across from him every once and awhile. "So…."

Ian looked up at him anxiously, probably scared that he would unleash Reno on him. "I, um, wanted to apologize. For, you know, what I said earlier. About your friend."

Cloud blinked at him a few times. That was all? Huh. Ian sure is a weird kid. You probably couldn't get any of the other kids here to apologize if you threatened them at knife point, yet here he is, taking threats and abandoning his friends just to say I'm sorry? "Alright then."

Both of the people at the table stared at him, Ian doing a vaguely fish-like impression. "What!" Reno shouted, once again drawing attention to their corner. "Yo, are you crazy? I know you're Amnesia Boy, but do you have short term memory loss too? He insulted us, and you're just going to forgive him."

"He did say he was sorry," Cloud murmured, the only finding amusement in this.

Ian was still staring at him. "You're… forgiving me?"

Cloud brought his hand up to rub his temple. Had he been like this as a teenager? These people were so judgmental, and they know what people say about assuming things. "Would you rather I not?"

Ian's eyes widened comically and he gasped out, "N-no. Thanks?"

"You're welcome."

"Hold it right there!" they both turned to look at a steaming Reno. "So he insults us, and I know you're just like 'whatever' yo, but it hurts me, ya know? 'Cause I'm not just a piece of garbage to be kicked around or whatever. Then, like, two minutes later, he comes back and is all 'sorry', and you're just like 'whatever' still, which I don't really mind, 'cause that's just how you are, but then you're also like 'alright then, forgive and forget blah blah blah' like it never even happened! No, no, no! That's not how it works! He's probably just getting your trust so he can stab you in the back, yo. You're not s'pposed to fall for things like that!"

Cloud sighed as he listened to Reno's rant. "Can you stay back for a moment?" he asked Ian, who nodded hurriedly in return. Cloud got up again and grabbed the arm of the panting cadet to lead him into the hallway. Once in relative privacy he turned on Reno, more exasperated than angry. "Look, I get it, okay? I know people don't always treat you right, but you shouldn't use that against people who mean well. Before he was just trying to warn me because he thought you were one of the people who would stab me in the back. Can you just get along, please?" Cloud pleaded, his face much more expressive than normal."

Reno glared at him. "How would you know what it's like, yo? I'll bet you never've been treated like trash just 'cause you weren't born on a mountain of cash."

Cloud's face resumed its normal, emotionless mask. "I lived in a small, traditional town. My mom didn't-doesn't have a husband."

His friend's face softened a little, probably realizing it wasn't just pity or whatever he had thought. Wait, friend? He supposed Reno was kind of a friend, now that they didn't have a history or ex-megalomaniac bosses between them, but that didn't make him allowed to slip up, he'd have to be more careful. That had probably made Reno think that meant she never had a husband, and he would be right, but they were engaged before he was born. His dad had been killed in an avalanche a few weeks before the wedding. "Can you keep control of yourself now?"

"Well, I could, but it's funner not to, yo. Besides, he said sorry to you, not me, and he said all that stuff 'bout me, so I'm not forgivin' him, yo, and you can't change that."

That… actually did make sense, in an awkward sort of looking to take offense to everything possible way. And if Reno really was hurt by the comments made by the brunette earlier, than Cloud couldn't reasonably begrudge him his need to intimidate the majority of the general cadet population into submission. Then a random, Reno-related thought popped into his head.

"How old are you?"

Reno looked at him oddly, and Cloud supposed he did have good reason to, considering the seeming lack of connection to their previous conversation. "Fourteen, yo. Why'd ya get the sudden want to know how long it's been since I took my first breath in this rat infested garbage dump called a city?"

Fourteen? That would make him the same age as Zack. No wonder he was being sensitive, being two years older than most people here would most likely make things uncomfortable, especially since most of the people his age already had their Mako or had been sent to the regular army.

"No reason. Just don't bite his head off, will you? He could be helpful in the future."

They both trudged back into the cafeteria, where the unhealthily pale Ian was waiting for them. It's strange, Cloud thought, he seemed much more confidant earlier. It was probably because Reno wasn't there before, and he had probably had the support of his friends. Now that he thought of that, was there a reason he hadn't gone back to his friends? "Ian."

The cadet snapped straight up and stared straight at him, it was actually a bit creepy. "Uh, yeah?"

"Was there anything else you wanted?"

Ian looked down. "Well, not really."

Cloud nodded his acceptance and picked up his tray to go throw it away, not even sparing a backwards glance at the cowering boy.

"Wait!"

Cloud turned around. Ian had gotten half up out of his seat, and Reno had sat back down and was eating again, scowling at the both of them. A pale eyebrow rose on an otherwise vaguely impatient face, though inside Cloud was amused.

"Um, well, can I walk with you to the next class? Not because, you know, Reno can't show you, just because, well, I don't know."

Cloud realized he was staring and turned to dump his tray in the trash before looking back. What was it with Ian? First he's cocky and telling Cloud who to be friends with, and now he's cowering at their feet. "Sure."

Now both of his companions were staring at him. "Really?" they asked at the same time, before Reno glared at the other cadet and Ian winced in return.

If Cloud had been a little younger, a little less messed up, and a little less Cloud-like, he might have rolled his eyes. As it was, he just shook his head slightly and walked away, before realizing he didn't really know where he was going. He stopped and pivoted back to face them. "Again, would you rather I didn't let you?"

Reno leaped to his feet and shouted "Yes!" before running towards Cloud and grabbing his arm to drag him off to the other side of the building. Cloud stood his ground, however, so Ian had a chance to catch up.

They walked on for a silent moment, Reno glowering at nothing and Ian shifting nervously every other step. "So," Cloud asked the person who was at least trying to be amiable, "what are the afternoons like?" He himself was very much not the master of small talk, but he was genuinely curious about the rest of his day and felt a bit sorry for Ian, so he decided to make an effort.

"It's alright, but it's really tiring. The first section is just running and drills and stuff, but the officers who do it are really… enthusiastic." Ian seemed calmer now that Reno wasn't being quite as actively hostile. "We have a new one every few days, so we're all hoping for someone more laid back, but we haven't had luck so far. One day we had a SOLDIER Second, and he worked us crazy hard, kept saying if we wanted to be SOLDIER we had to run like a SOLDIER. He was sent off to Wutai a day and a half later. After that we have marksmanship, which all we've done so far is learn about guns, but I think we're going to start cleaning them soon. I think the only reason Shinra lets so man cadets in the program is because they get almost free manual labor. Then it's close combat, which is two hours instead of just one, where we're doing hand to hand. You haven't missed much, really."

That was good. He would just have to pretend to know nothing instead of trying to figure out how much he was supposed to know, but had he shown too much of his future skill sparring with Reno? The Turk to be hadn't said anything, but he had noticed that his fighting was a bit off. That was probably because his mind was more used to a bigger body, so it went signals that weren't really possible as his younger self. It made him kind of clumsy, like he had just been through the growth spurt he never really had, just in reverse.

They got to one of the gyms and waited a few minutes before everyone else got in. Then came the instructor. He was probably about thirty five, with short black hair and a scarred up face; he was the picture of a stereotypical, crazy, thinks-he-knows-better-than-everyone-just-because-he-shot-some-Wutaians-way-back-when war veteran turned drill sergeant. Not that he didn't respect veterans, but some of them were a bit too cocky for his tastes. And since he had constantly looked like he was in his early twenties, they were always trying to impart their 'wisdom' upon him when he met one. That is, until he looked them directly in the eyes and they got creeped out by his glowiness. Creeped out? Glowiness? He was spending too much time in the company of pre-teens.

The group of recruits assembled at attention as the man paced in front of them. "Alright ladies, we're doing four miles today, but I doubt half of you wimps will be able to make even three." Here he wrinkled his nose in disgust. "And we're taking the stairs, dimwits. If you like elevators you should've been some office worker. You're in the ARMY, girls!"

The military definitely did not change much in the next couple centuries, Cloud thought as they filed out the door. The yelling, the insults, the physical exertion; you would think they would find a more efficient way of doing things.


	9. Reflections: Ian

I hate running down stairs. I can run up them and on flat ground all you want; for some strange reason or another I took up long distance running back home, in Junon. But I hate running downstairs, and I could've sworn Cloud did too, until today. He was always near me, at the back. The thing is, running down stairs is at least half psychological, or it is to me, at least. If someone, like me, is afraid of falling, and every time they skip a step they feel like they're going to fall, they try to take steps one at a time. That gets a bit hard with a maniac of a superior officer breathing down you neck.

Anyway, so two days ago the short blond was freaking out with me up here, but look at him now, calm as you please, way… down… there. He might not be at the front of the pack, but he's definitely in the first half. If you had asked me a week ago, I would've said things like that don't happen overnight. But obviously, they do. He's gotten so much more confidant. That's why, when my 'friends' decided to try and slip me something at lunch, I decided to go sit by him. He's so cool to everyone now, not that I mind. I could hardly expect him to be nice to me after I insulted his friend, Reno.

That's another weird thing, Reno. They weren't friends before, but now it seems like the crazy re head has adopted Cloud, or maybe the other way around, it's hard to tell. But my main point is that Reno doesn't wander anymore. He used to never spend a meal in the same place, always hanging around different groups, but constantly watching, listening. He still watches everyone in that creepy way of his, not quite staring at everything at once, but he doesn't do it when Cloud's around. When Cloud's around he focuses most of his attention on the blond. That's alright, I suppose, but it's like Cloud is a puzzle to him. I admit, Cloud is a bit confusing but people aren't just projects, things to figure out.

There have been other strange changes in Cloud, like his performance in History of Shinra. Not so much his score on the test, that was probably average for someone who had forgotten everything, but how he reacted to that other guy telling everyone what he got. I know I would've blushed and slunk down in my chair at least, but he just sat there, cool as can be, looking amused if anything.

Then there was his standing up for Reno earlier today. The old Cloud never would have done that, and what he said about SOLDIER just being people hired to other people, that's still turning over in the back of my mind. On one hand, SOLDIER protects the civilians; they kill monsters and save towns from bandits. On the other… the war in Wutai speaks for itself. But that would mean Sephiroth is just a murderer in disguise, not the godsend he is, and I know Cloud would never think that. I think Sephiroth seemed to be Cloud's personal hero, even more so than he is for the rest of us, and to gall from so high a pedestal to a hired weapon… that's harsh. But still, if getting amnesia makes you this much, I don't know, better, I need to find something hard to hit my head with. But at the same time, if just forgetting some things changed Cloud from a timid and scared little kid to a calm and collected SOLDIER recruit, I'm not sure I want to know what he forgot.


	10. Zack's Blunders

Cloud had done fairly well on the run, even though his body was obviously not as developed as he was used to. He had tripped and scraped his knee, but he hadn't been the only one. He wasn't used to being around so many people. It was a little odd to be jogging along then have someone randomly fall on him.

And they did fall on him. He wasn't surprised to find out he was still shorter than most of his peers, but there were a few even smaller than him. Not that being short was all bad, you don't get directly yelled at as much while in a group because your instructor can't see you, for example; however, being an all powerful super-soldier who has to get a stool to reach the top shelf of his cupboard was amazingly humiliating. If Sephiroth had been little he probably wouldn't have thought he was a god, no matter how much Jenova whispered sweet nothings into his mind. Then again, there was that one tiny conqueror, what was his name again, Appoleelin?

Anyway, after the run it had been time for Marksmanship, in which he had mostly spaced out as he could probably do a better job teaching side arms than whoever was. Living with Vincent, you can't not learn about them.

Now they were doing repetitive hand-to-hand drills. Cloud paired himself with Ian for this despite a glowering Reno. It was safer that way. Ian didn't push him, so he was less likely to show skills that he shouldn't have.

Even with an easier partner it was hard. He had never suppressed his skills to this extent before. Some of his mistakes weren't accidental, with his new body and all, but if he sees something speeding towards him he'll block it with reflexes only achieved through a lot experience in fighting or extreme ping pong.

A hand descended on his shoulder and he flinched away, raising his arms halfway before he could stop himself. Cloud looked up and around to see a teen with medium length brown hair and eyes colored by Mako. He seemed vaguely familiar, like someone you meet at the grocery store one day and see again a month later.

"You have good instincts," the SOLDIER commented, pulling his hand away. "Don't try and fight them. Try again, this time relax a little."

Cloud stared at him. Who was this guy? The person in charge of this class was bald and in his forties, Cloud was sure. Asking 'who are you' was rude, so instead he went with the slightly less blunt, "Do I know you?"

The man appeared confused for a moment before his expression cleared. "I'm Kunsel, and I help around here sometimes. This is my first year as a SOLDIER Third, so you'll get someone more experienced later in the year. You must be the recruit with amnesia Zack was telling me about. What's your name again? Lour?"

Cloud scowled. That was probably why the guy felt familiar, he was Zack's friend. Still, Zack shouldn't go spreading around other people's personal information. "Cadet Cloud Strife, sir."

Kunsel smiled. "Cadet's a funny name. Do you mind if I call you by your middle one?" Cloud just stared at him. "Don't worry about Zack, Cloud," Kunsel continued, correctly guessing what he was upset about, "Zack wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut if he was paid for it. Angeal's fan club has been sending him bucket loads of letters and gifts since Zack accidentally leaked what floor he lives on. Anyway, remember what I said about keeping relaxed. Oh, and Ian," Ian glanced up, eyes wide. "Try putting more force behind your blocks. Having your arms in the right place won't make any difference if your opponent can just brush them aside."

And with that Kunsel strode off to leave Ian staring at Cloud blankly. "That was… odd," The slightly timid cadet mused. "Why was this Zack guy telling him about your condition?"

"That's what I want to know too, yo." That was Reno, agreeing with Ian for once while Cloud frowned inwardly. People were doing an awful lot of coming up behind him without him noticing lately.

"You know Zack, Reno. He can't help himself." To Ian, Cloud explained, "Zack's the SOLDIER who found me after I had hit my head or whatever. I guess he kind of adopted me, and you heard that he can't keep quiet about anything. Kunsel's his friend."

"What Cloudy-boy here isn't saying," Reno cut in, "is that Zack is Angeal Hewley's protégé, you know who Angeal is, yo, don't ya? Anyways, that gives Cloudy connections."

Cloud frowned. The problem with Reno, he thought, was that it was hard to tell his motivation. He hadn't said that for Ian's benefit for the obvious reasons, plus the fact that Reno had been looking at him the whole time he was talking, so why had he said it?

"Cadet Reno!" the bald man in his forties barked, "Get back to your partner! Socializing is for meal times, not during classes!"

"Yeah, yeah," the redhead mumbled as he wandered back to practice with one of the many unremarkable cadets Cloud hadn't found out the names of yet, "I'll show you when I'm a Turk, yo."

A Turk! The corners of Cloud's mouth curled up slightly into the barest glimmer of a smile. Even now Reno knew what he was going to be, but surely there was a more efficient way of getting the attention of the Turks… It wasn't really any of his business anyway, Cloud supposed. Reno ended up as a Turk somehow, and that was all that really mattered.

 

 

It was after dinner, and Cloud was in his room, working on History of Shinra homework. Then again, it couldn't exactly be called homework, what with them not being at their homes. He also couldn't figure out whether the official name of the class was Shinra History of History of Shinra, as different people called them different things. Reno had already finished his work, probably because he didn't have to look up every single question, and was currently lying on his bunk, studying a notebook and occasionally adding small notes. Ian wasn't in their room, and so far the only other name he had was Patrick, who was an almost scarily tall blonde who was very quiet and kept to himself.

Everything was normal, for awhile, but then Cloud got the strangest sense of foreboding. He snapped shut his book and stuffed it in his locker, earning a curious glance from Reno and some of the other inhabitants, but he really didn't care. Something was going to happen, and he really didn't want to be sitting with his back to the door bent over his book if something opened the door and pounced on- And suddenly he rocketed forwards onto Reno's bunk, making the lanky boy squeak and pull up his legs. The corner of Cloud's textbook was digging into his cheek, and he was thrashing wildly, trying to dislodge whatever was heavy thing that was on top of him. What was going on? No one seemed to be panicking, so it wasn't fatal, but it was attacking him! Cloud turned his head towards decidedly amused Reno, put a slightly desperate look on his face, and mouthed 'help me'. Reno just smirked as he was turned over, only for Cloud to see a very familiar form grinning back at him.

"Hey there Spiky! I just wanted to see how you were doing, 'cause I kind of left in a hurry. It turns out Gen had already burned my boots, but Angeal got new ones for me because it wasn't my fault this time! Did you ever find out who that lonely boot belonged to? Oh, I met your mom yesterday. Or was it today? Reno, when did I call?" Zack turned his head towards the other occupant of the bed at the last question, releasing his grip on Cloud and allowing him to slink backwards before leaning over and throwing the textbook into his locker.

Reno scowled at Zack, but it seemed like he was also trying to warn him of something. "You didn't call me anytime, yo, 'cause I don't have a PHS. Cadets aren't allowed phones; you should know that, yo."

Zack opened his mouth, seeming about to say something before stopping and slowly shutting it again. "Yeah, I forgot," he finished lamely, sounding depressed.

So Reno wasn't following the rules? That was predictable. But there was what Zack said earlier, and he could have sworn Zack hadn't been to Nibelheim before, well Nibelheim. That's what he called it, in his head. Not even The Nibelheim Incident, just the name of the town. What was sad was that it was his biggest memory of the place, even though he had grown up there. But still, he had been sure Zack hadn't been there before. So the question was, "You met my mom?"

Zack looked back at him, staring at him blankly a moment or two before grinning gleefully. "Oh, yeah. She told me stories about you, and she makes great cookies. I told her about your amnesia, though, and she wasn't too happy, not that she should be. I said you remember her, and you do right? I didn't want to give her false hope, but she was just looking so sad and I couldn't help it." Zack stared at him pleadingly, and he couldn't exactly say no, even if he couldn't recall a lot.

"Yeah, I remember her some. Skye, right? She has the same hair."

The SOLDIER's grin could've overwhelmed the sun after that comment. "That's great! I was really scared that I had been wrong, because that would be horrible if my mom didn't remember me but then someone said she did but she actually didn't. Yeah, she was really great. Apparently she and the mayor hate each other, so she went on the rant about how he's a 'chauvinistic pig' and something about cranberry sauce. Then she started talking about the dragon and how it had eaten someone's kid, but it turned out she was talking about a baby goat. Did you know your dad was Wutaian? Not really Wutaian, but he had their religion or whatever, I didn't really get it."

Cloud blinked slowly. His dad? From Wutai? He sure didn't get his dad's genes then. And just what did Zack mean, not really Wutaian? He supposed it didn't really matter, but he was slightly curious. Anyway, Zack didn't have the answers, so it wouldn't do any good wondering about it now. "Why were you in Nibelheim?" he asked, directing the topic away from him.

"Well," Reno groaned, probably not liking Zack's storytelling, and the Third Class stuck his tongue out at him. "There was this dragon, right? I was walking up the hill, then this eeeeevil squirrel with glowing red eyes that tried to bite my leg off, but as I lunged to chop it in half the snow moved and I fell on my face, allowing the squirrel to escape. Then your mom met me, and she made this delish meat-vegetable-rice-meat-some-type-of-sauce-that-kind-of-reminded-me-of-Wutaian-take-out-meat thing. Then I went to kill the dragon, 'cause that was what I was supposed to do, but as I was looking for it in the mountains I came upon this really suspicious hole that looked like it led to a cavern that would be exactly where a dragon would be. So then I bravely jumped down the hole and smashed the eggs open, accidentally telling the dragon I was there with all the slashing and slicing and stuff. Then it got really mad at me, but that's completely understandable because if some killed my kids I would be angry to. I mean, I don't actually have kids but… Anyways, it ran at me and after a vicious battle I chopped its head off, but by then it was night and they couldn't come pick me up yet so I called Angeal, but I forgot about the time difference so it was actually really late here where it had been, like, six there." When Zack finished he stared at Cloud happily, his breathing slightly elevated.

It was completely silent for a moment as the room processed the exuberant SOLDIER's tale. Finally Reno broke into laughter, making Zack pout at him. Eventually he had let up in his mirth enough to say, "Do you even know what a chauvinist is?" causing the brunette to blush and scratch the back of his neck.

"Zack," Cloud hesitated, not wanting to burst his friend's bubble of bliss even more. "You do realize that for there to be eggs there had to be more than one dragon, right?"

Zack sat there for around three minutes before sprinting out of the room shouting for Angeal.

Reno closed his eyes and laid back on his bunk, kicking Cloud off of it. Cloud fell to the ground with a thump. He glanced up to see the rest of the cadets in the room looking down at him. He got to his feet and brushed off his pants out of habit, even though they hadn't gotten anything on them. He opened his locker (luckily his younger self had written down the combination and kept in the locker, even if Cloud didn't know what good he had thought it would do in there) and took out his textbook again. When he turned back around, everyone was still staring at him. One pale eyebrow rose and he smirked. "I know I'm pretty, but this is getting ridiculous."

The cadets hurriedly went back to what they were doing, and Cloud continued his studies of Shinra, inwardly shaking his head at the strangeness of the past few days.

Scratch that, his whole life.


	11. Third on Left

Cloud was lying on his bed in the early morning, his mind used to sleeping short hours, even if his body wasn't. So he laid there, resting his limbs while thoughts raced through his head, thoughts such as 'Why isn't there a math or statistics course in cadet training?', 'Does Zack have to go back to Nibelheim to fix his mistake?' and last but really the most important, because last thoughts are always the most important because you're too distracted by them to think of anything else, 'That one locker had a black powder in it that was most definitely not gunpowder! It was probably… Should I tell Reno?'

After a few seconds Cloud decided that yes, he was going to tell Reno. The boy would surely find out somehow, and it was probably better for someone to act as damage control when he did whatever it was he was planning to do. He should probably tell him now when everyone else was sleeping; Reno was just on the bunk below after all. Well, maybe in five minutes.

Fifteen minutes later Cloud dragged himself out of bed, nearly falling on Reno's head on the way down from the top bunk. He landed in an ungraceful heap, making an annoying amount of noise in the quiet room. After lurching to his feet he tapped Reno's hand, somehow not surprised when the cadet didn't move. Cloud kept tapping his hand with increasing amounts of force until he finally stirred, blinking open his yes with drowsy confusion. He scowled when Cloud pulled the blankets off his partially clothed body, but luckily took his cues silently when the blond gestured him into the hallway.

Cloud mentally grinned at Reno's the teen's glower before commenting, "You sleep deeply for a Turk-to-be."

Reno's reaction was definitely not what Cloud expected of him. Instead smirking back at him and saying something sarcastic and/or insulting and defensive at the same time and sticking a 'yo' or two in there, he completely exploded. Before Cloud could react he had been pushed up against the wall with a forearm across his neck and a mouthful of teeth bared alarmingly close to his face. "Talk," was hissed quietly at him, with more pressure being applied every moment.

Act calm, even if you're not. That was the first rule of just about everything. While approaching animals you're not supposed to show fear. Scared people won't calm down if you yourself are not composed. Frantic people make mistakes. Cloud knew all this, yet it was amazingly hard to act unruffled right then, pushed up against a wall. He blamed it on the hormones. "In one of the- you said- the instructor. You said you would show him when you were a Turk. Therefore, you're planning on becoming a Turk. I don't know if there's a Turk Training Academy or something, but if there is you aren't guaranteed a job so that would probably be why you didn't want to risk possibly being 'retired' when you could catch their attention just as well from here." The force had been gradually eased off, and by now Reno had stepped away, his expression sagging as his mood changed from aggressive back to tired. Cloud hesitated before continuing, eventually deciding that Reno probably wouldn't mind him putting out his theories and it would get them closer to the topic he had dragged the sleepy cadet out here for. "Is that the real reason you're trying to find out if someone is taking anything? To impress them?" The redhead grimaced slightly, and Cloud took that as a yes. "Check the second locker from the door on the left, I saw something suspicious when I-" Cloud stopped and thought for a moment, not quite sure how to put it delicately, "was figuring out which locker was my own."

Reno snorted, his features twisting slightly in amusement. "I'm sure, yo. How 'bout this: ya don't get into anymore of my business, and I'll check it out during Punyard's class, he won't miss me. But until then, I'm gonna go back to sleep, yo. Ni-night."

The red haired cadet went back into the room, leaving Cloud standing out in the hallway in his pajamas thinking. Would Reno actually take a look at it? He hoped so. In his own timeline he became a Turk, probably quickly as Cloud couldn't remember him before Nibelheim, though with his memory, which was way spottier than a Dalmatian, they could've been brothers for all he knew.

When he was about to follow the Turk-to-be and head back, his ears caught the echoes of a soft pattering. A few moments later and he could tell they were the footsteps of someone walking surprisingly quickly, considering the time. Sure enough, a middle-aged woman soon turned the corner, stopping and blinking when she saw him. After a few seconds of them staring at each other, she glanced at the door behind him before asking, "Is this room 32C?"

Obviously, Cloud thought, but he didn't say it out loud as it was better to be polite to strangers, especially when you didn't know who they were or what they were there for. He just nodded instead, before inquiring who she was looking for.

"Could you get Cloud Strife for me please?" she requested. She looked nervous, and she kept peering around him at the door.

"That would be me," he replied cautiously. Surely anything they wanted him for this early in the morning wouldn't be good.

"Come with me," she commanded, turning around sharply and striding back the way she came, heels clicking on the tiled surface. He hurried after her, his apprehension growing with each step. "Where are we going?"

"There's a phone call for you. She said it was urgent, but even then I wouldn't normally put it through to you, it's against company policy, but apparently it's a matter of life and death. I still wasn't sure what to do at that point, but luckily Mr. Hewley came in and I asked him if it was possible to reach you. He got me your room number and here we are." After going down a flight of stairs they reached what Cloud assumed was her office. She opened the door and sure enough, there stood Commander Angeal Hewley, trying to calm down whoever was on the line, presumably his mom. But did Cloud's mom even have a phone? He wasn't sure. Nibelheim was pretty backwater, and the Strifes were near the bottom of the pecking order, so they would probably be the last to get anything technological.

Commander Hewley glanced over his shoulder at us and waved me closer before pulling the phone away from his ear and whispering, "It's a girl. She's hysterical, so it's hard to understand her, but I think her name's Tifa."

Tifa? What was Tifa doing calling me? Before Nibelheim they hardly talked, at least that he could remember. There was that one incident with the well, and he thought she visited his mom sometimes, but other than that she pretty much ignored him. Unless she had come back too? Despite his inner befuddlement, Cloud took the phone and held it up so he could hear her.

"-and I don't know what to do, and it's still on fire, and oh Planet, Dad!" Yep, she was hysterical all right. He could tell she was speaking through tears, and just barely holding it together enough to make any sense at all. Sadly, this made it less likely that it was the Tifa Cloud knew, but it's not like that would stop him from trying to help her.

"Tifa? Tifa, can you hear me?"

"I-, is that y-you Cloud? I don't know what do to! I know I wasn't really very nice to you at all, but you're the only one I could think of to call, but then I didn't think they would get you for me, because I guess it's still really early there too. I just wanted to fight some monsters, but my d-dad wouldn't let me because, well you know how he was, but the town's on fire, and there was a dragon, and- and my dad! He-, well he's, everyone's dead, Cloud!"

And just like that, he froze. Nibelheim. fire. Sephiroth? No, dragon. His mom! He would never even get to know her. That was pretty sad, that he doesn't remember his own mom. And Tifa… Tifa must have seen her dad's body. How old is she now, ten? No one that young should have to go through anything like that.

Zack. Zack hadn't gone to Nibelheim before, so someone else must have been sent to kill the dragons. They must've killed both of them, because Cloud knew for a fact that this had not happened the first time. And because it didn't happen the first time, that meant that Cloud had somehow caused Zack to go on that mission. Everyone but Tifa was dead because of him.

"Cloud?" Two voices jolted him out of his spiral of pessimism at the same time and he noticed his face was wet. He couldn't break down now, Tifa needed him. He took a moment to compose himself before waving the worried Commander Hewley off and returning to the task at hand: getting Tifa somewhere safe.

"It's okay Tifa, I'm here." Not that that would actually make her feel better. "You remember the Shinra Mansion? It's far enough away that the fire shouldn't spread there, and it's so creepy that even the dragon will stay away from it." More accurately that the more intelligent monsters could sense Vincent's demons, but that was beside the point. "It's not burned down too, is it?"

Cloud could hear through the phone that Tifa stumbled every few steps, but that was completely acceptable considering the circumstances. "N-no, it's s-still there. Are you sure it's safe in there?" she stuttered, probably not wanting to enter the 'haunted' building, especially after everything that had happened.

"Yeah, I've been in there tons of times." Truth, but the Cloud she thought he was would never have gone in there. "How were you doing with Zangan? Can you handle a wolf or two?"

"Y-yeah."

"Good." He would hate to send her to her death while trying to save her. "The gate should be unlocked, just walk in. Go up the stairs, and on the right should be a library. Do you follow?" There was no answer, but he heard steps creaking in the background and assumed she did. "The far wall of the library is a secret door. You have to be careful after this because there are monsters down there, alright?"

"'Kay." A slight creaking noise, then muffled footsteps again.

I hope Vincent doesn't hurt her, Cloud thought as he winced at what Tifa's reaction would probably be. "There will be a door that needs a key somewhere. I don't remember what it looks like, but you can probably just kick it down. Inside, there will be a few coffins. Talk to me when you get there."

A murmur of agreement, then a clack as her PHS presumably fell to the floor. After a short moment she picked it back up, breathing heavily, then there was a loud crack as she broke down a door. "Why am I down here Cloud?"

"There's someone there who can help you. Don't look at me like that, Teef, and I know you are, even if I can't actually see you. In one of the coffins there will be a guy who looks like a vampire wearing black leather, a red cape, and has a golden claw in place of his left arm. When he wakes up, he'll probably tell you to leave or something, but say that Lucrecia's son is still alive."

Some shifting around, lids being dragged off the coffins, and a small screech and the sound of wings later, and Tifa was back. "Cloud, are you sure this is the right place? I haven't found the guy you were talking about yet."

What? "Yeah, I'm sure. Check them all again. I think he was in the third on the left." A few seconds passed.

"One of the coffins was open when I came in, but there's definitely no one in here anymore, Cloud."


	12. The Commander

Who is Cloud Strife?

In the infirmary Angeal had been sure it was a concussion talking, and he still thought that was part of it, (why else would he think he's dead?) and it seemed like the boy really did have at least partial amnesia. But now, now Cadet Strife was talking about trespassing on Shinra property, frequently enough that he can remember doing it at least once, going through the place thoroughly enough to find a hidden passage, and now desecrating the dead? Even if one of the people in the coffins had been alive, somehow, there had to have been a reason he was looking in the coffins in the first place.

This whole thing seems suspicious, Angeal thought as he watched the young blond freeze up at something the girl said. But what it made him suspicious of, exactly, he wasn't quite sure.

"Just stay there for awhile," the cadet murmured, trying to keep his voice calm even though it was clear he was starting to break down. "Do whatever you need to do. Take as much time as you want, just don't eat anything you get from the mansion. Once you're done there, head to Rocket Town. What? What do you mean? Oh. Umm, there is a town on the other side of the mountain, right? Yeah, that's the place I was trying to say. If you can't find anywhere there to stay, get a hold of me again. Yes, I know. Send a letter then. Are you sure you'll be alright? Okay. Bye." Judging from the girl's previous hysterics, Angeal guessed that there was a reason Strife didn't say goodbye.

Strife turned around, lines on both sides of his face glittering. "Will you be alright?" Angeal asked gently, taking a small step forwards in case the boy collapsed or something.

A blank face looked up at him, and for some reason that only made Angeal much more concerned. It held no emotion whatsoever, and the only ways you could tell that he had felt something at some point were his slightly red eyes and the trails of his tears. "I am not sure,' Strife answered quietly after Angeal had almost given up hope of getting a response.

The raven-haired SOLDIER cautiously took the cadet's arm and led him out of the office, mouthing a silent 'thank you' to the secretary on the way. During the walk through the hall back to the cadet's room, the only sound was their slightly muffled footsteps. Maybe we should take the elevator, Angeal thought. I'm not sure he can handle stairs right now. When the spaced-out blond didn't even react when they changed course, it just upheld his theory that this was something big. Maybe so big that it could effect other people?

They reached the elevator, and Angeal was grateful that Shinra had not felt it necessary to have music playing at all times. "Can you tell me what happened?" he pried carefully, watching the boy in case of an explosion.

"They're all dead," Strife intoned numbly, "Dragon. Tifa's the only one left."

Angeal winced in sympathy. Losing people was hard, especially if the deaths were all at one time. More than once he was heartbroken when whole companies had walked straight into a Wutai trap. Genesis was the only one of his year mates left.

"They weren't supposed to die."

Strife had whispered it so quietly Angeal wasn't sure he had heard it, eve with his Mako hearing. But when he registered how completely broken that sentence had sounded, he had to fight the urge to hug the poor child. "You could probably get some time on leave. Go home. Mourn."

Strife glanced at him sharply for a moment before a dry, humorless, bark of a laugh left his throat. "You don't get it. Tifa is the only one left. Nibelheim no longer exists."

His whole town was burnt down? With only one person left alive? No wonder the kid was so messed up. Wait Nibelheim? Wasn't that where… Angeal's gaze hardened. "Are you going to blame him?"

Strife's face scrunched into a position that would have been comical if not for the depressing circumstances. "What?"

"Do you blame Zack?" Angeal asked again, raising his voice slightly. It would be hard enough for the puppy just hearing about this whole thing, but the SOLDIER First wasn't sure his student would be able to recover if his pet cadet abandoned him because of it.

The boy just stared at him for a moment before seeming to shake out of his trance and hurriedly answer, "No. Never. It- it wasn't his fault. Nothing is his fault."

Angeal recoiled slightly at the venom in the cadet's voice. It seemed the blond had quite a hero worship thing going on for the puppy, and Angeal wasn't exactly sure what to think about it. Sure it's nice that he wasn't going to start avoiding Zack, but the kid just found out his whole world is gone because of one of the SOLDIER's mistakes, and he's already defending him with a vengeance.

A ding reverberated throughout the elevator as the doors opened, and Angeal was just glad Strife had snapped out of it enough that he didn't have to be dragged through the halls anymore. They stopped at the boy's room and Angeal put a hand on the cadet's shoulder before letting him walk in. "You should stay here today. I'll get you excused from the lessons, you just concentrate on recovering, okay?" Strife nodded in agreement, but he wasn't convinced. "I mean it. You have to come to terms with what happened, not just shut it away and let it brew. If you let that happen it will just be all the more explosive when it comes out, and believe me, it will come out."

Angeal gave a mental sigh as Strife nodded numbly, probably not listening. If only there was something else… was that red hair he saw? He probably looked a bit strange peering around the door, standing on one foot and leaning way over to see into the room more, but the only one there to see him was a recently traumatized cadet.

The SOLDIER quickly righted himself after confirming that yes, there was a familiar ratty, red ponytail hanging over the edge of one of the beds, and yes, it was highly probable that the nearby lump completely covered by blankets was a certain Turk-cadet that his student knew quite well, and yes, Angeal could doubtless get him to stay behind and watch over a certain blond who was in a highly unpredictable state at this moment without feeling guilty about denying anyone knowledge they needed.

Angeal padded quietly into the room, leaving the door open behind him. He crept up to the red haired boy, grabbed the ponytail, and pulled gently. As expected, Reno's body rippled down from his head to his toes and he awoke.

"Uuuawh," he yawned loudly, luckily not waking any of the other boys. "Whoever you are, you better go away before I wake up, yo."

Angeal snorted and his lips twitched slightly in amusement. "I am not leaving, cadet Reno. I need to talk with you about something."

Reno just burrowed deeper into the bed, mumbling, "You already talked to me, Cloudy. You made me get up, yo, and that is not happening again before it has to."

A dark eyebrow quirked in a silent question to no one. Cloud already got Reno up today, did he? I wonder what for, Angeal thought curiously, not really feeling a pressing need to know.

"Your superior officer Commander Hewley is ordering you to get up, Cadet Reno," he whispered in the aforementioned red head's ear.

Reno's eyes seemed to glaze over for a bit before he snapped out of it and jumped out of bed. Now that Angeal thought of it, Reno did kind of space out a lot. When he did that, he was still paying attention; he just didn't look like he was. "Whoa man, don't do that again, yo. Your voice was so creepy. Urgh." The cadet shivered slightly before shaking his head and inquiring, "Yo, what's up?"

Angeal spoke softly, "Could you stay here today? Cadet Strife isn't going to classes today because," here he hesitated, "of something that happened. I'm not sure I trust him to not do anything drastic in his current state." Or what Angeal believed to be his current state. The boy seemed so cut off from everything that he was almost impossible to read. Sooner or later, he would break down, and the SOLDIER First didn't want him to be alone when he did.

Reno blinked at him. "Cloudy? What happened to him, yo? He was fine just a sec ago when he woke me up."

"That is not for me to tell," Angeal replied sternly. "Just, be careful, alright? He could snap at any time, so don't be surprised if he suddenly bursts into tears."

The strange cadet's expression at the thought of what Angeal believed to be a normally stoic boy sobbing his heart out was… interesting, to say the least. In other words, Angeal hadn't even known it was possible for a face to do that. "Uh, yeah. Sure, yo. I mean, PT is just annoying, and it's not like I'm learning anything I'll actually use in the rest. I do get to lunch though, right? 'Cause gross as that crap is, yo, it's still food, and I need food."

Angeal nodded and cast one last glance at the blond boy who was now laying on the bunk above Reno's before leaving the slightly cramped room behind. Not enough time to go back to sleep, he thought with a sigh. Might as well get paperwork done. But what was he going to do about Nibelheim? He didn't know what Shinra would make of it, because it could be bad publicity, and he didn't want to cause Strife anymore pain, even if indirectly. I was very possible that Shinra would do nothing at all, since it wasn't exactly their fault; however, it was better that no one else knew who had gone to the town shortly before it had been destroyed. It seemed like Angeal had a report to burn.

He opened the door to his office, staying quiet even though there was probably no one on the floor right now. It was before most people woke up, after all. He padded over to his desk and shuffled through the paper patiently. It had to be here… somewhere…. But what if Sephiroth had already gotten it? Then he'd just have to ask his friend for it back, Angeal consoled himself. Even if he couldn't find it, it was doubtful anyone would bother looking through the report records anyway, but he would feel safer with all bridges burned. Of course, some couldn't be eliminated, like Sephiroth, Cloud, and the pilots who had flown his puppy over there, but Sephiroth wouldn't tell, Cloud had already said he didn't blame Zack, and no one would think of or care enough to find the two who had flown that mission.

Ah, there it was. Angeal removed the paper and reached for his Materia before stopping. While he wanted the report gone for good, it was probably not a good idea to unleash a Hell Firaga in his office. He could tone it down some, though Genesis was much more proficient with both fire and Materia, it was much easier to control a lower level Materia, several of which he very conveniently had in his desk drawer.

Why is it, Angeal thought as he leaned over to pull out the drawer, that all of the cadet's confiscated items are sent to me? Sure, in was amazingly handy at times like these, but those times were very far and in between, and it wasn't very practical. It was a very lucky thing that the cadets did not know he had their stuff, otherwise he would be constantly besieged by unrelenting children begging for their things back.

He dug through the accumulation of just about everything from junk to a diamond earring before pulling out a very low leveled, bad quality Fire Materia. The Materia was firmly in one hand, the report in the other and his thoughts concentrated on what he wanted to happen. Soon the Materia grew warm and a very weak flame hit the paper and he watched disinterestedly as it turned to ash, dropping it before it reached his fingers. Angeal gazed at the pile of dust on his floor before giving a sigh of relief as the ominous sense he hadn't even noticed he had been feeling broke.

He returned the Materia to its proper place, but as he withdrew his hand he felt a slight vibration. Angeal hesitated for only a moment before digging through the pile, searching for movement. A few seconds later it stopped, but he had seen what it was that had been stir. He pulled it out and his lips thinned. Of course, of course, it just had to be Strife's PHS, never mind the fact that there were probably dozens of other electronics belonging to other, less confusing people who hadn't cause a single complication in their life. Dreading what he was about to do but feeling like he had no choice in the matter, he flipped open the phone and revealed the latest message, his internal organs seeming to sink when he read it.

_TTRSlash, Objective one was unable to be completed due to the lack of target in the designated area. Objective two was achieved with minimal difficulties, though I may not have eliminated all there is. There are changes in what was. I was unable to contact you sooner because it seems something was left behind. Other than that there have been no complications I could not handle. You may not be able to contact with me right away because there are strong winds where I am, but that does not mean you should not try. TTRHeart_


	13. Unaware

It was over.

It was all over.

Maybe the world was better off with him camping in the woods somewhere until the time came where Sephiroth would go crazy and Cloud would stop him again.

He couldn't even do that because he didn't have the Mako.

He couldn't even get the Mako and whatever else was injected into his body because he didn't know how anything was going to happen anymore. Sephiroth could not destroy Nibelheim and cause all survivors to go to the Science Department, because Nibelheim was already gone.

Cloud didn't know what he'd done to change the future so drastically, and that was one of the worst parts. Sure, he didn't want everyone to die, and he'd miss getting to know his mother, but it was kind of a detached sadness because he didn't really know anyone, anymore. But that he could accidentally destroy his hometown four years too early just by existing, that was the problem. He couldn't just stand there and watch the world fall apart around him because he wasn't doing things how they were supposed to be done! But then again, it's not like he could walk away. Because on the slight chance that he could change things for the better, despite the overwhelming evidence for the opposite, it would be worth it. If one more person was alive at the end of this, he would be satisfied. Not happy, because one person meant Zack or Aerith or both dying, and he didn't think he could stand that. Not again.

Cloud didn't know how long he laid there, numb to the world. He had cause the deaths of an entire town, even if indirectly. He didn't even notice when the alarm went off, causing everyone else to jerk awake. He didn't notice them getting ready for the day, nor when one called back, asking Reno why he wasn't coming.

The other cadet wasn't all that surprised when all the flamboyant teen did was point at a spiky headed blonde who was gazing blindly at the ceiling with glazed-over eyes.

So when something actually got Cloud's attention, it was a bit startling.

"Come on, snap out of it, yo!"

The blonde's eyes slowly focused on the freckled face alarmingly close to his own. He shrank back into his pillow as much as possible, but considering Shinra's stinginess that wasn't much. "Reno? Wha-what?"

Reno scowled. "What what? Don't 'what' me, yo. You've been spacing out for who knows how long, yo, and I've just been sittin' here havin' no clue what's goin' on! So talk."

Cloud just stared at him for a long, long time. It seemed Reno was just as stubborn as in the future, because the Turk-to-be just would not leave. Finally Cloud looked down and away, murmuring, "It doesn't matter."

A low rumbling noise emanated from Reno's throat, and he looked in alarm when he realized the cadet was growling. The explosion was just a few seconds later. "Yeah, it does too matter! You're just sittin' there all like 'oh, look at me, I'm being all angsty and crap' and 'stay away from me you incompetent fool' at the same time, yo, and I don't even know how that's possible! How can you be so uppity and depressed at the same time! It don't make sense! So listen here, yo, you're not better than anyone, and you're gonna tell me your problem right now because other people actually help stuff sometimes, and not just hang about thinking their miserable selves into a ditch."

Cloud still didn't say anything, just closed his eyes again. Surprisingly Reno just sighed, and didn't throw him off the bunk or something like that. Sometimes Cloud had to wonder if Reno was bipolar. It wouldn't shock him if he was, that's for sure.

"If I told you a secret about me, would you tell me what's botherin' ya?"

Cloud's eyes shot open. Reno, voluntarily giving away personal information? Impossible. Either he was hallucinating, or didn't remember the Turk as well as he had maybe something happened between now and when Cloud had known him that had changed him. Or it could be a trap. But if Reno went first how would he be tricked into giving up his information without getting anything in return? He couldn't think of anything, but he would never be anything like a Turk. Not only that, but Reno would find out eventually, so he supposed it couldn't hurt that much.

He nodded silently and Reno grinned like the maniac he probably had hidden not so far beneath the surface. Soon though, his exuberance faded, and if Cloud had believed it at all possible he would have sworn the red head looked, well, nervous. And if Reno was anyone else it would have been obvious that they were, in fact, nervous. But Reno was Reno, and the most hesitant he ever got was slightly unconfident. After a few moments of Cloud staring expectantly at the anxious cadet there was finally an end to the uncomfortable silence. "Well, ya see, yo, no, that's not right, I see. Colors."

Sure, Cloud was glad their weird staring match was over, but that could've made more sense. A lot more, actually. "Colors? You… see them? Doesn't everybody?" he asked tentatively. This was getting a bit too weird for his tastes, which was saying something because he had spent the last few centuries living with an ex-Turk who could turn into a demon.

Reno shook his head quickly and started talking faster, as if eager to get it over with. "I see colors. In the air. Like, when someone slams a door a thick brown line cuts across whatever I'm lookin' at. But it's transparent, yo, so I can still see the other stuff, it's just, ya know, there." After finishing his dialogue his mouth snapped shut and he sheepishly looked away from Cloud, down at the ground.

So when Reno heard a sound, he saw a color? That was definitely something else entirely. "Do you see colors at any other time," Cloud asked curiously, "like when you smell things?"

Reno looked up, apparently startled for some reason. "Nah, just with most noises, yo. Not all of them, like some voices. It's really weird."

"And this has been happening since before you remember?" he questioned, intrigued. Reno nodded silently in return before snapping a cold gaze back to Cloud.

"Your turn."

My turn? Cloud thought in confusion. What? Oh, right. The whole 'give one to get one' thing. "My hometown was attacked by a dragon and everyone died except for the mayor's daughter." Nice job, Cloud. Could it get any blunter? At least act traumatized even if you can't remember anyone, will you? Oh, yes! The amnesia! "I mean, I don't really remember everyone that well, so it's not as bad as it sounds, really. I kind of have some memories about my mom, but that's about it. And falling off a bridge. But still, now I don't really have any hope of getting my memory back."

They fell silent again, but this time the quiet was of a more comfortable sort. Cloud was relieved that Reno was pushing false sympathy onto him, and doubtless the other cadet was glad that giving up his secret hadn't pushed Cloud away. Instead, if anything, it drew him closer. Reno's condition was intriguing, and he hadn't heard of anything like it before. It didn't seem like a disease, if the red haired boy had had it his entire life, and it didn't look like it had any ill effects either. If anything, it could help in the situations that Turks were so often in: sneaking around in places they probably shouldn't be. Sure, it would only appear as a color if he could hear it, but people tended to pay more attention to sight than sound, and he would probably be better able to tell if the noise/color/shape was out of the ordinary with his eyes rather than his ears.

Eventually Reno slipped off the bunk, landing on the floor with a sticky sounding 'thunk' caused by his bare feet hitting the floor. Curious, Cloud peered over the edge and saw that Reno was kneeling next to a locker that definitely wasn't his own. After around half a minute of the slight sound of metal clinking, the door swung open. Cloud's angle wasn't right, but hopefully Reno would see a clear bag of black powder in one of the far corners of a locker. A small gasp from the aforementioned cadet proved that it was, in fact, still there, to Cloud's relief, and that it probably was what the Turk-to-be was looking for. Who knows what Reno would've tried to do to him if he thought the blonde had been lying.

Quicker than Cloud had anticipated, Reno had snatched the bag and tossed a quick "I'll be back" over his shoulder on his way to go do… something.

Except he didn't come back. Cloud sat there, soaking in his thoughts, depressing and otherwise, for an hour or two. More like three, actually. Eventually other cadets started trickling in, so he assumed it was just after lunch. Everyone was ignoring him as usual, and they seemed to have forgotten Reno too. Or they knew where he was. Cloud certainly didn't.

Then the door slammed open, and Kunsel of all people came storming in, calm, quirky Kunsel. Or at least it seemed like Kunsel; the helmet made it kind of hard to tell. A moment later Cloud started to doubt that it was, because whoever this SOLDIER was, he was angry. Not angry as in annoyed, angry as in fuming, furious, livid, incensed, and yet somehow disappointed on top of that. The near-visible vibes coming off the guy just about made Cloud nauseous.

"Everyone out. Now," the SOLDIER Third snarled, and the cadets scuttled out at an alarming speed. Cloud hurried to follow them, dropping off the top bunk to the floor, still in his night clothes, and going after them. In the hall it was a mess, recruits in other rooms crowding around, trying to see what was happening. There were some MPs there, dragging the people from his squad away to who-knows-where. One grabbed Cloud by the shoulder and he trailed after the man obediently, not wanting to get in trouble.

The MP led him through the building, and Cloud wouldn't have been able to tell where they were if there hadn't been signs posted around the place. All they had was the floor level and section of the building, but it was something, at least.

He was brought into a room with a small, dented table with a sturdy looking chair sitting right behind it. Very sturdy, considering it had handcuffs attached to it. Under the MP's orders he sat in said chair and was swiftly and efficiently bound to it. The MP left, and he was alone.

The room appeared to be completely made of concrete, except for the door, obviously, and there was probably one some version of a two-way mirror along one of the walls, or at least a video camera, but if there was one it was so well hidden he couldn't find it. It was obviously an interrogation room of some sort. The table in front of him was very old metal, dull and almost delicate-looking, but Cloud was sure it was there for some psychological reason. Maybe to make him feel unstable? The chair was also metal, though this appearing more well-built. It was small enough to be constraining, even if there hadn't been bands of metal holding his arms and legs down. It was very cold and uncomfortable, again, probably for some psychological reason, and was bolted to the floor.

He sat there for awhile, probably as other the other kids in his room were questioned, or it could just be to make him more uneasy. It certainly worked well. Sure, Cloud knew he didn't have anything to do with any illegal substances, but he knew next to nothing about people affected by amnesia, and they would doubtless be able to tell he was faking if they looked close enough. He might be able to act less confident, but that just wasn't him. There was a reason he had never gone into the performing arts, but after all this practice he was getting he possibly be able to make act convincingly, but that would be sometime in the distant future. Very distant.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a slight whoosh as the door slid open into the wall, and a very imposing SOLDIER Third walked in.

It seemed the investigation of one Cloud Strife was about to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reno's condition is actually real, and it's called synesthesia. It's not a disease and doesn't have any negative effects, and there are many other types besides the sound - color type that Reno has. Some people see letters and numbers as different colors, feel things when they eat, or see colors when they hear things. It's cool, you should look it up.


	14. Strangeness

"Cadet Strife," the SOLDIER Third barked, and Cloud would've jumped if he hadn't been tied to the chair. "Did you have anything to do with all this?"

Cloud was about to answer negatively, but then paused. That voice, it sounded familiar. "I don't believe so, sir. I can not answer more confidently until you elaborate on what exactly 'all this' is."

The SOLDIER's mouth twisted into a strangely bitter sneer. "Have you come into contact with, known about, or participated in the trade or use of banned drugs, whether prescribed or not, since you have been enrolled in the SOLDIER training program."

Was that? No way, it couldn't be. "Kunsel?" Cloud murmured, "That you?"

The man, who Cloud was now sure was Zack's friend, froze for half a second before ignoring the question and moving on with the interrogation, but not before sending a smug smirk towards the wall on the SOLDIER's right. "Answer me, Cadet Strife," the man ordered, ignoring the question. Yep, it was Kunsel all right. This was so weird.

Well, two could play at this game. "I came into contact with the spoken of drugs shortly after I regained consciousness in the hospital, sir. I found out about them through confusion caused by my amnesia, which produced a certain cluelessness regarding the subject of which locker my belongings were in. This set off a chain of events which led Cadet Reno to finding out about them also. Sir, I cannot fully answer your inquiry on the basis that I do not have full memory of my time in the SOLDIER training program, so I could have been involved in 'all this' and do not know it. However, the few memories I have of my personality give me grounds to believe that I would not have been involved, and I am fairly secure in the thought that investigation of the circumstances and participants involved in 'all this' will lead you to conclude that I was no more part of it than Cadet Reno, who I believe to be the one that reported 'all this' to an authority figure, sir. If you or any others working on this case decide that I had willingly participated in actions that are banned under the guidelines of the SOLDIER training program, I will not fight against any punishment I might receive. Though, I do not believe that I would find it just and would soon quit the program if I had not already been thrown out, as I have no memory of any transactions regarding any chemical substances with the perpetrators, nor am I aware of who said perpetrators are at this moment in time. That is all, SOLDIER Third, sir."

Cloud struggled fight back a smirk the longer Kunsel didn't say anything. Apparently his training had stayed with him, even if his memories hadn't, because that had sounded scarily like a military report, and the binds on the chair had restrained a salute that had been begging to snap up to his forehead. Maybe it was being back in this time, but it was hard to believe how obedient he was. Of course, if there was any time or situation where it would help him to be openly insubordinate, he would gladly shake the stiff formalities off. Still, it was rather amusing to discretely mock someone like that.

"That is not all this interrogation is about, Cadet Strife."

Cloud froze. Had he messed up somewhere? Let something slip? Acted too suspiciously? It was definitely possible, considering he wasn't even sure how he was supposed to act. Either way, Kunsel's dark tone was ominous enough to make him think that this wasn't just about some idle curiosity.

"Or should I say, TTRSlash."

"…"

"…"

"… What the fudge?" As soon as he said it Cloud wanted to take it back. He was pretty sure that was a saying from a different time, and he really didn't need something else for them to be suspicious of. But honestly, TTRSlash? What was that even supposed to mean? "Is that some sort of codename or something? Because if it is I think you're going to have to spell it out for me a little. It is TTR slash, right? Not TTRS lash?" The only thing he could think of that it could stand for was Tea Time Rush, and there was no way that was it. No one even liked tea anyway, so even if there was a tea time there wouldn't be a rush for it. "Sir, what does that even mean?"

Silence for a moment, and it was making Cloud nervous that the Kunsel's helmet blocked most of his face. He couldn't read people very well when he could only see their mouths. Finally Kunsel answered, "I think I should be the one asking you that, considering it was your PHS that got a message addressing you as such."

Cloud blinked. Then he blinked again. Was he dreaming or something? Because he was pretty positive he didn't have his own phone. Besides, Tifa would have called that instead of Shinra if he had had one. In fact, he didn't even think cadets were allowed to have a PHS on them when they were training. "Sir, are you sure it was mine? Because I don't remember ever having a PHS, but I suppose that's not saying much." Cloud was actually starting to feel a little sorry for the guy. It must be frustrating, interrogating someone who knew allegedly nothing. Plus the fact that they had this whole TTR thing that he didn't have anything to do with, and it probably was a suspicious message, considering they were bringing it up now.

Kunsel's lips pursed. "If you insist, TTRSlash. However, I'm curious. What do you think of when I say the word 'heart'."

Cloud stared at Kunsel like he had gone crazy, which the bound cadet wasn't entirely sure he hadn't. First he starts calling him this TTRSlash thing, and now he's asking him about hearts? What was with this guy today? Still, it was better to be seen cooperating with such an inconsequential question then asking about his interrogator's motives. "Um, hearts? Well, I think of Valentine's Day, I guess."

Kunsel gave a miniscule nod to the wall again, where there was presumably a camera or something, before continuing on. "And what do you think when I say Valentine, TTRSlash?"

Well, there was no way Cloud was telling him about the man who could turn into a demon, so he would just make something up. Maybe something about an awkward V-day he had had? There were plenty of those. "Once these two girls were both going to give me something, but they came to me at the same time and got in a fight. That's about all I can think of, unless you want that whole story."

Kunsel's mouth twisted into a grin, and Cloud was sure the rest of his face would look just as evilly triumphant if it wasn't covered by the helmet. "One Valetine's Day this happened, you say? And you agree that the spoken of holiday occurs on the fourteenth of February every year?"

Cloud nodded uncertainly, having no clue what the SOLDIER Third was getting at.

"So you're admitting that you did not tell the truth about being an amnesiac, because it has not been the fourteenth of February since you have supposedly become one, am I correct?"

Oh, Cloud thought, slumping in the uncomfortable chair a little. Oh. Well, this was a bit… crap. There was no way anyone who actually mattered was going to buy this next bit. "I don't remember very much, sir, just small events. I remember falling off a bridge too, I'm pretty sure I told someone about that earlier. I can kind of picture my mom, and this other girl. Tifa, I think her name was."

He could just feel Kunsel's skepticism coming off him in waves. "And you don't recall anything else? Describe what you remember of your town."  
Nibelheim, what could he say about the place? He actually didn't remember much, so this shouldn't be hard at all. "Um, it was cold. And there were dragons on the mountain, and wolves too, I think. That's about all, sir."

The Third nodded shortly before questioning in a bored monotone, "Past tense?"

Cloud tensed before forcing himself to relax again. It was probably too late, but it would do no good for them to notice his alarm. He probably wasn't supposed to have heard that phone call, so there was no way for him to know about its destruction. But if Angeal looked at the tape the Commander would know that he had no problems lying. Oh, why had the Lifestream picked him for this? "Umm…," he started, fidgeting slightly, "Just because it doesn't seem real to me, you know? I can't really picture it well enough for it to seem like I actually lived there, SOLDIER, sir."

Kunsel stared at him for a minute more, before letting out a small sigh. "You are being released, but note that this does not mean you are being relieved from suspicion. We have ascertained that you had nothing to do with the reason we brought you in for interrogation in the first place, and we can not legally keep you in custody any longer without evidence that you have done something wrong. I trust that you can find your way back to your room without mishap."

The door slid open and Kunsel knelt to undo the straps on the chair. Cloud slid out of the uncomfortable seat and exited quickly, not wanting to stay in that room any longer. The SOLDIER Third followed him out, commenting to him quietly once they had gotten past the door, "Sorry about all that. I don't really think you're a terrorist or anything, but I have to be thorough, you know? Other wise we'd both be in trouble."

Cloud stared at Zack's friend before actually laughing quietly and shaking his head. This was officially the strangest and worst day since his return, and he somehow doubted it was going to get any better. Nibelheim burns down half a decade early, Vincent isn't in his coffin, Reno can see sounds, he gets interrogated by his best friend's friend about a message he supposedly got on his nonexistent PHS, During said interrogation Kunsel starts going off about hearts and Valentines Day, and lastly Shinra actually has a humane law. Despite every morally wrong thing the corrupt company had done, apparently they couldn't keep people as prisoners, or at least they couldn't keep employees as prisoners, without proof that they had done something wrong. Doubtless that one wouldn't last much longer.

He took a step away from Kunsel and the interrogation room, one step, before he got tackled to the ground by a smear of red and dark blue. "Cloudy!" the person screeched, "you're alive! Well, you're not dead, yo, and that's somethin'."

"R-Reno?" Cloud asked, the bony elbow in his stomach making it come out stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

The cadet's face appeared over his own, some loose red hair tickling Cloud's forehead as his friend grinned down at him. They stayed there for half a second, Reno's exuberance overflowing and somehow spreading to Cloud, making the time traveler… happy? Why would he be happy if he had just been tied up and interrogated? Was that even possible? Either way he didn't have time to examine his feelings, real or not, now, because Reno had just jumped to his feet (on Cloud's left hand, of course).

"C'mon, Amnesia Boy, we've got things ta do, places ta see, all that junk, yo. Oh, and food! 'Less you're all still depressed and stuff, yo, 'cause then I'm leavin' ya in the room and goin' to the caf myself, 'cause I am hungry as a dragon. Roaoaoar!"

And with that the Turk-to-be ran off, waving his arms crazily and hissing at a poor passer-by, leaving Cloud to trot after him, ignoring Kunsel's incredulous stares and shouting, "Reno, if you kill anyone I am not going to hide you."

Honestly, some people just belonged in a straitjacket.


	15. Falling Again

Kunsel stood there for a moment, staring down the hall after the Turk trainee and the cadet. They were certainly a mismatched pair, but apparently they got along. Somehow. The helmeted SOLDIER couldn't exactly understand how such a quiet and serious kid like Cloud seemed to be could stand the craziness incarnate.

Zack had introduced him to Reno a while ago. He didn't exactly like the kid, but he seemed nice enough, in an annoying sort of way. Kind of like Zack, except even less mature, if that was possible. Kunsel could see why the two were friends.

Sighing, Kunsel slowly turned, dredging himself out of his thoughts. There were more productive things to think about, like the interrogation. He hadn't been anywhere near comfortable with it, considering the topic. Yes, he had seen the message on Cloud's PHS, but the kid was surely too young to have done, well, anything. When he was twelve, he had been worried about if he would be able to keep his friends, not planning a coup, or whatever Angeal was suspecting him of. In his opinion, the First Class was getting a little too paranoid. Kunsel couldn't really blame him though. With all that Mako, the guy could probably hear people whispering three floors away.

The wall slid open next to the door to the interrogation room and Angeal stepped out. The older SOLDIER had been watching the entire thing through part of the wall that acted as a two way mirror. "So," Kunsel asked patiently, "what did you think?"

Angeal looked at him searchingly before shaking his head. "I don't know," the man replied, and Kunsel could sense a little confusion in his voice. "He's either a really good actor, or a bad liar. Not only that, but he kept contradicting himself. Not in what he said, but how he said it. By the way he was responding to your questions today, I had to almost completely change my opinion of his personality. The last time we interacted, he had seemed somewhat compassionate towards his childhood friend, if no one else. Reno said that Strife frequently protected another cadet named Ian from him. But just now he seemed, cold, apathetic, maybe even nervous."

Kunsel nodded and threw out a salute and a "Until later, sir." Before turning around and marching back to his room. He had a lot to think about.

"Hey, Kunsel!"

The SOLDIER Third groaned and rolled over to face the back of the couch, bringing his hand up to shelter his eyes just in case his roommate did anything… idiotic. It was definitely a possibility, considering who it was.

Suddenly the cushions he was lying tilted and started wobbling wildly before the whole thing finally crashed over and went rolling off the back of the overturned couch and onto the floor. The very cold, very hard floor.

"Zack, I am not paying for anything you break," Kunsel muttered as he opened his eyes, his limbs spread wide. Somehow he had managed to land face up with his weight spread evenly across his body. Doubtless if he had his friend's luck he would have somehow managed to get a concussion.

"Yeah, yeah," Zack responded, brushing off the threat with ease. "Hey, you wanna go out with Cloud and me? We're thinkin' of wandering around Sector 6 or 7 or something. I've really only been around 8, so I figure it's time to go exploring."

Kunsel went to decline, thinking that another session of Zack's 'wandering around' so soon after the last one was the last thing he needed. He was tired of paying for the damage, and SOLDIER Thirds got paid less than the public assumed they did. He was just glad food and lodging came with the job, otherwise he would be broke by now. Then again, if Cloud was going…

If Cloud was going he was obligated to come along. The cadet was mysterious, a bit suspicious, and if nothing else interesting. He had decided before interrogating the boy that he would see this through, to almost any end. Even if he didn't believe Strife had malicious intentions, he owed it to his superior to take any chance he could to investigate the kid. "I'll go," Kunsel decided with a nod, hoping he wouldn't regret this later, "but I'm still not paying for anything. That includes all property damage, hospital bills, and the mountain of food you're sure to devour."

Zack grinned exuberantly and started rocking back slightly on his heels. His friend probably hadn't heard a word he had said after 'go', but that was to be expected, with Zack. Sometimes Kunsel wondered how the SOLDIER managed to keep the more quiet individuals such as Strife and himself around, but then the dark haired teen bounced into the room and his contagious smile wiped all similar thoughts from his mind. Zack was too lovable to deny.

"Let's go pick up Cloud!"

The door to their apartment slammed shut and Kunsel hurried to his feet and raced out after his friend, making sure to close the door properly on his way out.

"Zack!" he shouted, chasing after the teen. He didn't know where they were meeting Strife, after all. "Slow down, will you? Not all of us have the energy of a puppy dosed with sugar."

Eventually Zack turned a few corners or something too quickly and Kunsel lost him. Deciding there was nothing to do but see if Zack was meeting Strife in the cadet's room, he descended the stairs in the most direct route possible, trying to make up for lost time. There was no guarantee Zack would realize he wasn't behind him until he was halfway to Sector 3, after all.

Kunsel slowed to a trot as he neared the cadet hallways, stopping quietly at what he was pretty sure was Strife's room. He could already tell Zack wasn't inside, by the lack of yelling and the all around peacefulness of the place, but it was possible Strife hadn't left yet. He opened the door halfway and peered inside, but the only person inside had bright, red hair. "Hey, Reno."

The apprentice Turk turned to face him, looking a bit startled. "Oh. Kunsel. What's up, yo?"

"Has Zack been by?" Kunsel questioned softly. It was weird, Reno looked almost sad. He knew they weren't exactly friends, but surely the kid wasn't that disappointed to see him. He's probably just waiting for someone else, the SOLDIER assured himself, putting Reno's odd dejectedness out of mind.

"Hmm? Yeah. The crazy kidnapped Cloudy, yo. Kid didn't look too mad about it, though. I don't think he can get mad at Zack. It's unnatural, yo."

Interesting. Useful? Maybe not, but it was a piece of Cloud's puzzle. One of the tiny, uniformly shaped ones, but it the whole thing was like that. It also was pure white, didn't have any edge pieces, and the box didn't have a picture on it. And if that wasn't hard enough, he was blindfolded, wearing inch thick gloves, and had only ten of the pieces. He didn't even know how big it was going to be.

"Right. Which way did they go?"

Reno snorted. "You don't actually think that's gonna help, yo, do ya? Zack swerves around like a chocobo. If there's one thing he isn't, it's predictable, consistent, and sensible."

Kunsel nodded and turned to leave, but then paused as he realized something. "Predictable, consistent, and sensible are three things, Reno, not one."

The SOLDIER heard a short laugh behind him, but he didn't bother to turn around. Reno was going to be a Turk, and that meant Kunsel wouldn't be able to glean anything from his expression. "True, yo, but I figure that to Zack, they're all the same."

Kunsel left as the red haired boy broke into hysterics. He wasn't sure if that statement made any sense, but he would go with it. It wasn't his problem if there was going to be a crazy Turk in the system. What was his problem was that it was a very large possibility Zack was going to lose Cloud if left on his own for more than half an hour.

He set off at a trot down the hallways yet again, nodding at a SOLDIER Second he passed on the way. Kunsel was pretty sure everyone was used to it by now, him running around after Zack every other day or so. Sometimes he felt like a dog, or maybe a babysitter, but a few minutes with his lighthearted friend reminded him why he didn't just walk away from it all. Sometimes he just needed a break from all the dark and heavy stuff, and Zack supplied more silliness than he could ever need.

Either way, there was no doubt that his immature friend was kidnapping a cadet, even if it was one that Commander Hewley was suspicious of. Kunsel agreed that the boy was a bit odd, and his amnesia conveniently timed with this mysterious message or whatever it was that Zack's mentor had been talking about, but he wasn't really convinced. After all, people sent their messages to the wrong PHS all the time, and it was probably just Cloud's bad luck. Then again, he did have all of those numbers…

"I assume you are looking for Zack?"

Kunsel glanced up. It was a Turk with curly, red hair and absolutely no emotion in her voice. On her back was a giant, red rimmed shuriken that looked like it had seen a lot of combat, even if it was kept very clean. "Yeah," he mumbled, trying to ignore her blank, yet somehow completely intimidating, stare.

"He was heading towards Sector Five, Under Plate."

Under Plate, and Sector Five? That was near Wall Market! What was Zack thinking, bringing a cadet down there? Before running off to the nearest train, he turned back to thank the girl, but she was already gone. Kunsel shuddered. The lengths he went to for his friend.

"Cloudy, you sure you don't want to come up here with me?"

Kunsel snapped around. That was Zack's voice if he had ever heard it, and he heard it daily. And sometimes nightly, too. Kunsel pitied his parents.

In the distance he could see the spiky headed cadet, his bright yellow hair standing out in the gloom. "Zack, I really don't think you should be up there. I mean, it's a church. What if there's someone inside?"

The poor kid looked more than a bit uneasy, and Kunsel couldn't blame him. Despite any misgivings about any… 'extracurricular activities' Strife may or may not be involved in, the cadet shouldn't be forced into climbing around on top of a decrepit old church, especially if he was religious, as he appeared to be. Why else would he be so distressed?

Kunsel marched forward, not quite running, to try and put an end to this. "Zack, come down from there right now!" he shouted, wishing that his friend would for once do what he was told. Hoping to diminish the cadet's nerves, he murmured, "Sometimes I feel like his mother." Judging by the lack of reaction, it wasn't working so well.

Zack's immediately snapped back, "Why should I?" before who it was that was shouting at him registered and he swung around, a wide grin on his face.

"Hey, Kunsel, what are you doing here? You're gonna help me get Spiky up here, right? The view is great, and he has to get rid of that fear of heights sometime, if he wants to be in SOLDIER."

Yeah, so much for that.

But that was interesting. He never would have guessed Cloud was afraid of heights, but he didn't seem particularly religious either. Maybe…

No. No Turkish thoughts. He was not going to be one of those creepy, emotionless girls who disappeared without a sound and carried monstrous, sharp things to throw at people on their backs.

Zack thumped down beside him, dust billowing up from the impact of his feet, and Kunsel's mouth slipped open in surprise. Zack had actually obeyed someone, and it wasn't a life or death situation? He had better stock up on ham now, because soon all the pigs would be flying away.

Then he was gone, dragging Cloud behind him. Kunsel sighed before chasing after, shouting expletives at the miscreant bounding up to the roof of the church. "See, Spiky? It's not so bad up here after all."

Eventually Zack set the cadet down on the peak of the building. The boy seemed surprisingly calm for allegedly being afraid of heights, but Kunsel wasn't going to complain. One less person panicking just made his life that much easier.

The helmeted SOLDIER Third slunk towards the pair, hoping his friend was distracted enough that Kunsel could sneak the harassed blond back down to the much more solid ground. Right when he was about to grab Cloud and dart away, however, there was a loud crack and the roof dropped away from beneath their feet.

But he was smirking as he fell, for a grumbled "Not again!" came from the two next to him.


	16. Shut Up

Aerith did not expect anything to be out of the ordinary today. She thought it would be like any other day, spending most of it working with Elmyra before heading down to the church to check on her flowers. There weren't very many of them yet, and most of them were sickly looking, but she was determined to get the whole hole in the floor of the church covered in them.

She walked through the doorway, the doors having long been taken and used for something else, and froze, eyes wide. "I- I'm sorry," she stuttered to the two men in uniforms staring at her, one reaching behind his back threateningly. "I'll c-come back later. Y-yeah, l-later sounds g-good." Aerith turned to bolt.

"Wait!" one of the men called out.

She should have kept running. She knew she should have kept running. But for some reason, some strange inexplicable reason, she didn't. It might have been the desperation in the man's – they were just boys, really – voice, it might have been the knowledge that they could probably catch her anyway. It might have even been a nearly silent plea sent to her by the Planet to stay, but the thought was almost laughable. The Planet wouldn't care if she met these two boys or not.

"Oh, you're staying? Good, I didn't want to scare you away or anything," the black haired boy said with a slight smile before glancing over his shoulder and rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, what I mean is, you don't happen to know any medical stuffs, do you? 'Cause I don't have any materia on me, and they really don't teach this stuff in basic training, and I think they should, and I wonder if Spiky knows it, but he's kind of the one messed up, but it's really not his fault, 'cause I kind of grabbed him and all. And I'm sorry about the hole in the roof, and I think we landed some plants, and I'm sorry about that too, and…"

All Aerith could do was wonder if the boy had five lungs.

The other one, the one with the helmet who had been reaching for a weapon when she came in, beckoned her forward. She hesitated, but quickly decided that anyone who was with the boy who was still rambling couldn't be that bad. Hopefully.

She edged around the one who was blabbering, and somehow he didn't notice she had gone, because he kept talking. It was kind of cute, in an oblivious sort of way.

As soon as Aerith had followed the helmeted one a few steps, she paused. There was a younger boy on the ground, this one with bright yellow hair. For a moment she felt a spark of anger because he was on her flowers, but when he didn't get up she realized something was wrong.

She knelt down beside him, glancing up at the helmeted head before reaching out to touch the boy's forehead. It wasn't hot or anything, he wasn't sweating, and it didn't look like there was blood anywhere, so Aerith couldn't think of any reason why he would be unconscious. His limbs were all in the right place, there were no bends where there weren't supposed to be, and she couldn't see any bruises. That didn't mean much, considering clothing covered most of his body, but it wasn't like she was going to check.

"Is he going to be fine within an hour or so? I'm Kunsel by the way, and I'm sorry about this, really."

She looked up at the more mature of the two boys conscious, Kunsel, and frowned apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I don't really know. I mean, he doesn't look hurt or anything, and he doesn't have a fever, so there's no reason he should be unconscious. People don't just get knocked out randomly!" she growled, blushing slightly when the taller one was startled out of his trance or whatever he was in and turned to look at her. She mumbled more quietly, "It might help if you told me what was going on before this happened."

And with that the one with black hair started blubbering again, while Kunsel knelt down next to her and the unconscious one. "This one is Cloud, and that's Zack," he explained softly, jerking a thumb behind him. Zack dragged us up on the roof, and we fell through." Here Kunsel raised his visor and pointed to his eyes. "Zack and I have mako, so we were alright, but Cloud here…" he shrugged, lowering his visor quickly.

Aerith's eyes grew wide, and she looked up. First at the ceiling, where there was a newly made large hole, then at Kunsel and Zack. "You- you're SOLDIERS? I'm sorry, I have to go." She hurried to stand up, and yelped when she felt a gloved hand on her arm. She glanced up through her eyelashes, surprised to see that Zack was the one holding her in place.

"Please don't go," he begged, amazingly serious compared to his previous self. "We won't hurt you. We're just normal people. Well," he paused, a smirk sparking across his face. "Our eyes are wonderful, aren't they? The color of the sky."

Aerith looked up cautiously, curiosity getting the better of her. Zack's eyes were entrancing. Bluish lavender, with little veins of a glowing green running through them. "That's what the sky looks like?" she murmured, reaching up to try and get a better look before checking herself, blushing as she lowered her hand again.

"Yep," Zack replied proudly, ignoring Kunsel's little snort of incredulity. "The color of the sky, well, mostly anyway. I mean, there's not much green, and less purple, but still. Wait a sec, you've never seen the sky?"

"She lives below the plate, Zack," Kunsel interjected. "All she sees when she looks up is tarnished metal."

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Maybe you should spend less time looking in a mirror and more time finding a brain."

Aerith giggled quietly, not wanting to disturb them from their arguments. They were such bright people. She hadn't known SOLDIERS could be so silly.

"Shut up," someone moaned, drawing their attention to the floor. The young one – was his name Cloud? – had woken up, apparently, and very obviously did not appreciate his companions' bickering. Aerith had no clue how these three were friends.

Zack fell to his knees at Cloud's side, literally tripping in his rush, and proceeded to be himself. "Spiky, you're alive! Well, I knew you were alive because you had a pulse, but still, you're not going to die! I won't have to lug your comatose self around for the rest of my life! Wait, you don't have amnesia again, do you? 'Cause that would really suck if you forgot me, and I wouldn't even be able to blame Seph this time. No, you have to remember me, because if you didn't it would be my fault, and I couldn't live with that!" By now the black haired SOLDIER sounded desperate, his eyes wide as he was grabbing Cloud's shirt and yelling in his face. "No, Spiky, please forgive me! I swear I'll do nothing like that ever again, unless it's an accident, but this was an accident too! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm so so so sorry."

Aerith watched, slightly worried, as Cloud opened his eyes and jerked back, reasonably startled by the frantic face about three inches from his. "Wha? Zack?" he croaked, raising an arm to shield of the non-existent source of light.

"The roof broke when Zack dragged us up there," Kunsel explained, prying his older friend off of Cloud. "You don't have mako, so you were more affected by the fall. This girl," he paused, gesturing to Aerith, who gave a shy smile. "arrived soon after and was helpful in diagnosing you and calming Zack down. Her name is Aerith."

Cloud blinked at her, looking confused. Judging from what Zack said about amnesia, though, the boy had a history of head injuries. It could be that he was sensitive to them and they left him lightheaded for a while.

Just then Aerith felt a pulse race through her body. Her hand went up to her head and she jolted, her body straightening. Her vision flickered, but she could still see enough to tell that the three of them were staring at her with concern, and then…

Nothing. Her sight cleared, the strange energy was gone, and she was back to normal. She couldn't see or feel anything that had changed.

"Um, Miss Aerith, are you okay?"

She blinked once before shaking her head. "No, I'm fine, Cloud. It was nothing."

Suddenly Zack's face was right in front of hers, scarily close. His eyes were narrowed to an intense degree, and she jumped back when he frowned. "Z-zack? What's this all about?"

Then Kunsel was in front of her, warding off the other SOLDIER. "No, she's fine, Zack," he growled, obviously annoyed by his enthusiastic friend. "I'm sorry about him, Aerith, truly," he added in a gentler voice, glancing over his shoulder at her while calming Zack down. "It seems you've entered his 'circle of protection'. He has this habit of adopting people, like he did with Cloud. It's really not healthy because then he starts freaking out if he thinks they've been harmed, and that could get someone killed on the battlefield. I'm trying to train him out of it, really, but he's not the easiest to control. He doesn't mean any harm though."

"You are fine though, right Aerith? I mean, it would probably be my fault if you weren't, then I would feel super bad 'cause we wouldn't be here if it weren't for Spiky being hurt, and that's really my fault too. Oh, Spiky! You are fine, and remember everything and stuff, right?"

It appeared that Zack was quite a handful, even on the best of days. She felt sorry for Kunsel. Yet, seeing the black haired boy acting like a mother chocobo was somehow endearing.

Soon after that they left. Just as Aerith was about to leave herself, she noticed a glinting among the crushed greens. She knelt down, careful to avoid wrecking any more of her flowers, and picked up the object. The only thing she was wondering as she left, was why the SOLDIERS would be carrying around a miniature silver wolf's head in the first place.

 

 

A shadow flitted over the orange shingled roofs. Had there been any onlookers, they might have noticed the occasional spark of red in the blurred mass, but there were no witnesses, and no reason any one would look on the roofs. After all, no sane person would spend there time in the already hot Costa del Sol on top of a platform that belonged in an oven. Then again, no one had ever claimed Vincent was sane.

Plans had changed, for the worse. Since Cloud had not answered, Vincent did not reveal the situation to Cid, and was forced to believe the worst. Not only that, but it seems even the transaction did not go as planned, though luckily his own Chaos kept the other one under control. However, he did not know how long this situation would last, nor if Aerith could do some damage control and send the rest of it along, though he did not know where it would end up if she did.

Either way, something was changing, he could feel it. He would proceed to Midgar as planned in case of error, though it may be a minor one. It could be that Cloud's phone hadn't arrived yet, and that was why he hadn't gotten the message yet, but Vincent couldn't help but feel it was something more sinister, something that could be disastrous, not only to their plan, but to the fate of the planet. Maybe he wasn't as aware of the planet as Cloud, and maybe he couldn't guide the Lifestream like Aerith could, but there was one thing he could do.

He would make sure the plan proceeded, regardless of who got in the way.


	17. Breakthrough

Aerith wasn't herself.

Was that a good thing? Overall, Cloud had no idea. But personally, as soon as he had woken up in that church known that she wasn't the Aerith he knew, that she didn't recognize him and would never really see him, he realized that he had subconsciously hoped she had come back too. It almost made him want to cry.

Stupid pre-teen hormones.

So there he was, sitting in the cafeteria trying to eat breakfast with a less nervous Ian trying to figure out why he was sniffling, when all he wanted to do was complain about how it just wasn't fair and he didn't want to do this anymore, and no one knew anything about anything so don't you even start.

That's when he realized something that snapped him out of the misery fest. Aerith was dead. Yes, that was obvious, but it still was a breakthrough because he was pretty sure he hadn't been dead when he was sent back. Maybe the things about her that made Cloud assume that it would be her, if anyone, sent back with him didn't matter. Being an Ancient who could stop giant meteors from hitting the earth didn't really make much of a difference if you were dead.

If being a dead Ancient wouldn't let you go back in time, but being a live human who was only special because he had enough Mako and Jenova cells pumped into him to make him, for all intents and purposes, immortal would, well, maybe there was someone who came back with him.

Now Cloud was grinning, actually smiling gleefully – stupid pre-teen hormones – and Ian was looking like him like he was crazy, which he probably was, but it didn't matter because Vincent was here because he wasn't in the coffin!

Ignoring Ian's inquiries of his health, – and it was weird because Reno wasn't freaking out which he normally would be but Reno wasn't here, huh. – Cloud just grinned even wider and stabbed the plastic fork into his tray to start eating.

Neither Ian nor he expected the flimsy utensil to break upon encountering a pair of sunglasses.

They both sat there for a moment, staring dumbly at the sunglasses that for some reason were sitting on top of his mashed potatoes. Well, now they had been pushed into the white mush because Cloud had just stabbed the sunglasses with a fork.

It was Ian who broke the silence, asking cautiously, "Why are there a pair of sunglasses on your tray?" The slightly timid boy only hesitated a moment before continuing, "And why in the world are you having mashed potatoes for breakfast?"

If Cloud was Zack, he would have started laughing hysterically.

But Cloud was Cloud, so he didn't. It was hard, though. "I have no idea," he answered, referring to both questions. He picked the glasses up, discarding the broken fork in favor of trying to wipe some of the white food off of the randomly placed eyewear. They actually looked like something he would wear, when he didn't feel like trying to explain why his eyes were glowing. Black and streamlined, they would be less likely to fall off or be uncomfortable when on his motorcycle, and they were tinted darkly enough to block out his eyes.

Cloud used a napkin to clean them off before shoving them in one of his pockets. He liked sunglasses, and these ones were nice, even if they had mysteriously appeared in his food. Not really feeling like eating anymore, but shoveling his breakfast into his mouth anyway, Cloud started thinking. Something was missing; he could tell. It felt like the sunglasses were involved around all the craziness around here lately, though that could just be Zack. Now that he thought about it, the sunglasses could probably be blamed on Zack too, somehow.

Putting craziness out of mind, he focused on his next task: Shinra History. Cloud had no clue how he had passed the class the first time around. It was torture, and since it was torture, he procrastinated studying until suddenly, what do you know, lights out. That only made the next day even more torturous.

"C'mon," Cloud muttered to Ian, planning on using the extra time for a cramming session to make sure he didn't embarrass himself to badly. Not that he really cared, but he was pretty sure saving the world required him to be in SOLDIER, and to be in SOLDIER he needed to pass this class. The requirement was ridiculous, but if it wasn't needed the class wouldn't be in the curriculum, right? "If you're done we should head to class."

"Um, actually, Cloud, I kind of left my textbook back in the room on accident. Sorry," Ian replied, smiling sheepishly, though the cadet's eyes begged Cloud not to be mad at him.

The blond wasn't angry. There was no way he could be, when he had once been like Ian. He was pretty sure the boy wouldn't make the cut for SOLDIER, and Cloud didn't want him too. SOLDIER was a den of monsters. Figuratively, because there was no way Zack could ever be classified as a monster.

"Sure, go ahead."

Ian smiled, and in that instant Cloud was reminded of Denzel. Which was weird, not only because he hadn't thought of the orphan for awhile, but also because he had been a bit like a father figure to the boy, and Ian was the same age Cloud was.

The cadet left, and Cloud continued on to the classroom, fingering the sunglasses that were in his pocket. There was something about them…

And then he froze, because it all clicked into place.

The glasses were familiar because they were his own glasses. All of the random objects – the boot, the sunglasses, and he was pretty sure there had been a glove – they were all things he had probably been wearing when he had gotten sent back. If his mind could get sent back, why not objects? He just really hoped his body wouldn't appear somewhere, because that would be really hard to explain.

But what if- No, they already knew! The alleged PHS message, all that heart nonsense Kunsel was going on about, they knew. Vincent was awake, and remembered something he didn't, because there was a message to him, and he didn't know what it said, and they had it. They had his PHS. He was so stupid. All of the numbers of his dead friends were on there, and the ones who hadn't been born yet didn't matter, but there were so many, so, so many, that could get him in trouble. That had gotten him in trouble. All because he didn't want to forget anyone.

And Reno wasn't there. They had sent Reno after him because they knew everything and he was going to die because he didn't even have his Mako yet and Reno was a Turk and there was so much left to fix! There was so much that Vincent didn't know that he had to know but he never would know because Cloud was going to die and Reno was after him.

Cloud dropped the book and slipped on his sunglasses, striding quickly to the nearest elevator. Using the stairs would be so much more suspicious if anyone saw him, no matter how much he didn't want to be stuck in an enclosed space with strangers and potential assassins at the moment. Shinra might need proof to hold someone, but he knew for a fact they didn't need anything to unleash the Turks.

The elevator was empty when he got in it, thank the Lifestream. When it stopped a few floors down, however, Cloud nearly started hyperventilating. Of course he knew there was about a two percent chance of actually getting an elevator to himself, considering the number of people in the building, but he couldn't get rid of the paranoia that Reno would be standing there when the door opened, electro-mag rod in hand and cocky smirk plastered permanently on his face.

The man was definitely not Reno. No, while still familiar, this face was more friendly, though it was missing a moustache.

Reeve blinked, hesitating before entering the elevator, casting a cautious look at the blond. Cloud supposed he probably did look odd, with the cadet uniform, spiky yellow hair, and the dark sunglasses. Maybe he shouldn't have put them on; it wasn't like not being able to see his eyes would make him any less easy to recognize, not with the neon sign on his head that screamed out 'spiky chocobo head is here.'

It was silent except for the beeps that signaled another floor passed for about two seconds before the ever involved Director of Urban Development tried to solve another person's problems. "Are you alright?" he asked, throwing a concerned look Cloud's way.

Okay, so maybe he had problems, and maybe he was on the edge of hyperventilating, but he wasn't about to… oh who was he kidding. Maybe Tuesti could give him some helpful advice.

"I'm quitting," Cloud started, thinking carefully before speaking to prevent any more mistakes, "the training program. I was in the dorm of a kid who was smuggling something, and the Turks questioned me. I couldn't take it, so I'm leaving."

Reeve's eyebrows shot up. "Don't worry about the Turks if you're joining SOLDIER. They will only take you if they're sure you're what they need. The two programs stay away from each other, so once you are accepted you won't have to worry about them."

The elevator dinged again, and Reeve left, sending a soft smile to Cloud on the way out. The cadet sat down heavily, one line ringing through his mind. 'They will only take you if they're sure you're what they need.' From what he remembered, the opposite was just as true. Turks were manipulative, and would only take someone out if it was an order from Rufus or they were sure they couldn't turn the situation in their favor.

Reno wasn't a Turk yet, Cloud reminded himself. There had to be a perfectly normal reason for his absence, and the ex-mercenary's paranoia was just overreacting. A lot. Plus, with no money, no connections, and no form of transportation, the only thing fleeing the building would do was prove that he was guilty of something. Innocent people don't run, and the Turks could easily find him anywhere in the city. Also he was pretty sure Rufus was dabbling in AVALANCHE, so that slip about finding the rest of them he made to Angeal when he first came back might actually help him.

It was clear, running would only harm him, but at the same time, could he really just walk straight back into their clutches?

He had no other choice, unless he wanted to sit in this elevator for all eternity. More than one passenger had given him a strange look since Reeve left, but, Cloud supposed with a quiet snort, working in Shinra got you in the habit of not questioning things. Especially with some of the messes the higher class SOLDIERS got into.

With a sigh similar to a man approaching the gallows, Cloud rose to his feet and pressed button 32. It really was no different from before, the cadet told himself, he was just more aware of the traps laid out for him. It was a good thing he had figured out what was going on, really.

If only he could convince his paranoia of that.

 

 

Meanwhile, the Director of Urban Development walked into a room a few floors away.

Angeal glanced up from his paperwork, a warm smile appearing when he realized that it wasn't a certain Third Class coming to confess that he had destroyed, burned, spilled boiling coffee on, broken, or defenestrated an important object or person. Again.

"Reeve," he exclaimed, pleasant surprise obvious in his voice. "I haven't seen you recently, how've you been?"

"Things are going well, and it's good to see you. However, you know that cadet with yellow hair your apprentice was telling me about two weeks back? I saw him on the elevator and he said he was going to quit. I think I convinced him otherwise, but I just thought I would stop by to warn you that there might be a devastated puppy on your hands in an hour or two."

"…"

"Angeal? Am I missing something here?"


	18. In the Know

"Angeal?"

"Meet me in my office. The others will be there."

Angeal put down the phone and sat heavily in his chair, ignoring Reeve's curious glances. The Commander knew that the Strife boy was involved with something, but he could not, for the life of him, figure out what it was. The Avalanche comment suggested terrorist activities, but that didn't explain the Phs, his instructions to the girl in Nibelheim, his answers during the questioning, or his quitting. It felt like everything was connected, but if he was trying to infiltrate Shinra, he wouldn't be quitting now.

Zack bounded in, followed shortly by a carefully indifferent Sephiroth. The man in black swept into the room and swept into a chair, his piercing gaze landing on Reeve. Genesis appeared shortly after, smirking at the squeak the puppy let out when the First Class entered. They were all that were coming, as Angeal wasn't quite sure how to contact Reno. He didn't think he wanted to either, not with the boy being a Turk.

"What is this, Angeal?" Sephiroth asked, his voice cold.

"Cadet Strife," Angeal replied, keeping an eye on the nervous department head. "And leave Reeve alone, he works for the people, not the president."

Zack relaxed in his chair, and it was then Angeal realized just how much Reeve had been effecting the boy. He would have to tell Genesis to stop spreading horror stories about the president's cabinet, even if most of them were true.

"Everybody, Reeve Tuesti, Director of Urban Development. Reeve, this is my student Zack, and you know Genesis and Sephiroth are."

Zack smiled at the man, but Genesis smirked evily and the blood drained out of Reeve's face. Sephiroth ignored him.

"He's only here because he brought me information on Strife. He's not a spy, so just calm down, alright? Apparently Reeve met Strife in an elevator an hour ago, on his way to quit the training program. Now-"

He really should have foreseen this, Angeal thought as he watched the puppy practically explode. Zack shouted something about chocobos before racing to the exit, managing to knock of his chair and nearly wrench the door off of its hinges on the way out.

There was silence for a moment before Genesis grinned. "Well, now that you got the puppy out of the way…"

"No, Genesis. We are not getting roped into any of your pranks," Angeal replied firmly before leaning back and rubbing his head. "Well, I guess that answers the question of if we want to stop Strife."

"Why is he quitting?"

Angeal sighed. Did they really think he would know? "I have no idea, Sephiroth. Apparently he claimed to be overwhelmed by the Turks, but it still makes no sense."

"Is someone going to explain what's going on, or should I leave?"

Sephiroth's glare chilled the room a few degrees.

Angeal didn't feel the same way. "Cadet Strife is a suspect that we are investigating."

Reeve looked lost. "And why are three First Class Soldiers doing the investigating? What's he suspected of?"

The three looked at each other, Genesis shrugging his shoulders and answering, "We really don't know."

Reeve nodded thoughtfully, still seeming confused but less ignorant. "That's what the 'infinite in mystery' bit was about. So now you're 'seeking it thus?'"

Angeal nodded. "Cadet Cloud Strife claimed amnesia a week into training. Upon waking up in the infirmary, he tried to escape, even fighting Zack on the way out. He eventually calmed down, only to start talking about Avalanche and being dead and in the lifestream, as well as mentioning a Vincent. We assumed it was a concussion talking, and left it at that. After he left Zack discovered his Phs, which is more advanced than any of the ones we own, and searching through the contact list proved to be somewhat disturbing as he had the numbers of a few Shinra executives, including yourself, Reeve, along with other people inside Shinra who have confirmed that they have never heard of a Cloud Strife or given him their number. Shortly after a plant inside Strife's room reported that the cadet had alerted the plant to the fact that another cadet housed in the room had an illegal substance in his locker, also admitting that he found out by picking the locks. In his interrogation he appeared genuinely clueless about a suspicious message received after the Phs was recovered. Strife seemed unaware that he had a Phs at all." Angeal hesitated, before continuing in a lower voice, "Don't tell Zack, but a girl from Nibelheim called a few nights ago. She was asking for Cloud, and she sounded frantic, so I sent the secretary to get him. Apparently a dragon burned down the town, and she was one of the only survivors. Strife gave her some… interesting instructions. Something about a Shinra mansion. Later, when I told him not to blame Zack, he sounded offended that I thought he would."

Sephiroth frowned. "Lazard did not mention the burning of Nibelheim to me. Should I send someone out to make sure the dragon does not damage another town?"

Angeal shook his head. "It was just getting revenge, I don't think it will fly all the way to Rockettown to continue its rampage. Zack did kill a dragon, but I don't think he realized that there needs to be more than one for there to be eggs."

"Then a few days later, he was interrogated about something he helped stop as well as something, assuming he does have amnesia, he knows nothing about. Is it really surprising he was going to quit?" Reeve asked, appearing much more composed than he had minutes ago.

Genesis raised an eyebrow. "I think you're ignoring all the suspicious parts, Mr. Tuesti."

"I agree. His actions are too suspicious to disregard."

Reeve sat up straighter, looking almost eager for a debate. "But since he did try to quit, it leaves two possibilities. One, he really does have amnesia, in which case everything else is irrelevant because he now believes he is here to become a Soldier, or he has already gotten what he came for. And if he has gotten what he needed, there's nothing you can do about it because he was on the elevator going down an hour ago. Just because Strife's planning to quit doesn't fit with your suspicions, doesn't mean you can disregard the event. In fact, because it doesn't fit, it is the most important clue at this moment. Your thoughts as they are cannot accept it, so you have to change your thoughts to fit."

"Angeal! Angeal I couldn't find Spiky! I looked down at the lobby but the desk person hadn't seen him, but what if he just left without officially quitting? Angeal, help me." Zack stood in the doorway, eyes wide.

"Calm down," The raven haired Soldier replied, standing up from behind his desk. "Your friend doesn't blend in very easily, so if the secretary hasn't seen him, it probably means he hasn't been down there. He very easily could have changed his mind after Reeve talked to him, after all."

Zack very much so did not calm down. "But I checked all of his classes and Reno's gone too."

Genesis stood up too. "It's obvious the rat was called back. If you don't mind, I have more interesting things to do now that Strife is gone. Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return."

Sephiroth followed after the flamboyant Commander, not saying a word. Zack sat amazingly quietly in one of Angeal's chairs, and Angeal fell back into his own, going back to his paperwork.

Reeve watched everyone, confusion obvious on his face. After the two First Class's left, he asked, "What just happened?"

Angeal did not stop working and answered with the ease of someone who had spent years multitasking, "I honestly don't know. You learn not to try and figure out how anything make sense, just take in the information. I think only Genesis truly understands everyone."

Reeve looked between the other two left in the room. Zack, who was whimpering slightly now, and Angeal, who was succeeding in ignoring him. Maybe he could help both of them. "Hey, Zack, did you check in the elevators?" The boy beamed up at him then raced out of the room, almost knocking the door off its hinges again. Reeve blinked "How do you-"

"I have no idea."

 

 

Cloud stepped out as the doors opened on level 32, only be knocked back in as someone flew by. Cloud twitched in annoyance as he regained his balance. Everyone knew you let people get off elevators before trying to get on yourself.

"Hey, have any of you seen a kid, short, blond spiky hair, blue eyes? I've been looking for him everywhere but I just can't-"

"Zack?"

Zack turned around, his face lighting up when he saw Cloud there. "Spiky! I've been looking everywhere for you!" the Soldier shouted, sweeping him up into a hug.

"I heard," Cloud mumbled into his friend's shoulder, very much relieved when the boy put him down. "Why were you looking for me?"

Zack's grin fell, and Cloud shifted uncomfortably when the boy's eyes got incredibly wide. "Angeal told me you were going to quit. Don't quit, okay? I would miss you."

Cloud nodded absentmindedly, already thinking about other things. "Angeal?" he murmured, "How would he know?"

Zack shrugged, looking happy again. "Angeal knows everything. It's kind of scary, because if I do anything fun he always finds out about it."

Cloud considered this. Angeal: honor obsessed Soldier First was actually Angeal: Turk extraordinaire? Not likely. But still, if the man was actually keeping an eye on him, he would have to be extra careful. It was clear that anything or anyone who Angeal thought put his student in danger had a much shorter life expectancy.

"But seriously, Cloud, where have you been this whole time?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow. Apparently it was very serious if Zack was using his actual name. "In the elevator," he said, nodding to the now closed doors.

Zack stared at him like his head was on fire. "You spent an hour in an elevator?

Cloud smiled slightly and was rewarded with a shining grin from Zack. "Well, just because I had decided not to quit doesn't mean that I wanted to go to Shinra History."

 

 

Tseng frowned. "This 'Cloud Strife' doesn't happen to be the one Sephiroth asked me about, does he?"

Reno nodded violently. "Yeah, yo. Sephiroth and Zack and 'Geal and Genesis had a whole conference thing about him. They have all sorts of stuff on the kid, like his Phs and what he said when he woke up and how he reacted to Zack and whatever, yo. Cloudy has somethin' goin' on besides amnesia, and it's totally suspicious, yo. You should let me investigate."

Tseng sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You like him, don't you."

"Hey now, he's cool. He was all suspicious like, so I was like 'yo, what's up with you?' and he's all 'whatever' but then this kid totally insulted me to him. He told the kid off but then later he's just like 'forgive and forget' and there's no way that's happenin', yo! But still, he's cool. Zack likes him too."

Tseng stared at Reno. "You want to stay in the Soldier program."

"Not forever, yo! Just 'till I figure out Cloudy." Reno waved his arms frantically, showing just how much he really didn't want to become a Soldier. "If I had to get all those enhancements or whatever, I would explode! No greasy scientist guy is getting' his hands on my eyes, I'm not glowin'. Not in a billion years."

Tseng considered. If this Cloud Strife really was an insurgent or just hiding something potentially important, he didn't want Soldier to be the ones to figure it out. Turk was Turk, and Soldier was Soldier. However, if a Turk was involved, it would be seen as an attempt made by the Turks to lessen resentment between the two groups. "Fine."

Reno cheered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was practically impossible for me to write for some reason, sorry it's so short. Here are some failed attempts you might enjoy
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Everyone's disappearing and I can't do anything about it and soon you're going to disappear too and I don't want to be alone!"
> 
> They all stared at him.
> 
> Reeve spoke slowly and softly, not making any fast movements. "Zack, did anything traumatic happen to you as a child, anything that would cause abandonment issues?"
> 
> Zack thought for a moment, then nodded eagerly. "I brought a Toad into the house as a pet, but when I woke up the next morning my parents weren't in the house. All I found were some more Toads, so I put them back out in the jungle. Since I couldn't ask my parents how to take care of one, I didn't want to accidentally feed them something that would kill them. But I was sad though, because my parents were gone, but then I went to join Soldier so it was all okay!"
> 
> Chirp. Chirp. Chirp. Angeal had a recording of cricket noises for occasions such as these.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> "… Angeal? Can I adopt him?"
> 
> "No."
> 
> "But you have your puppy, can't I have a director?"
> 
> "No. Be quiet."
> 
> "But he knows Loveless."
> 
> "Lots of people do. Go adopt someone in your fanclub, they'd explode with joy."
> 
> "But they're scary."
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> "Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess; the wandering soul knows no rest."
> 
> "We get it, Genesis."
> 
> "Um, guys?"
> 
> "My friend do you fly away now, to a world that abhors you and I? All that awaits you is a somber morrow."
> 
> "Genesis, shut up."
> 
> "Guys?"
> 
> "Sephiroth, stop implying insult to Genesis's precious."
> 
> "Hero of dawn, healer of worlds-"
> 
> "And Genesis, stop with the quoting. Seriously."
> 
> "People!"
> 
> "What?" The three Soldiers shouted, turning to glare Reeve.
> 
> "Is anyone going to explain to me what's going on?"


	19. Vincent

"Yo, Cloudy, I'm back!"

Cloud looks down from his bed, thoroughly exhausted. Zack had decided that in celebration of Cloud not quitting, they needed a day to run around doing everything and nothing at the same time. So he had been dragged to Angeal's office, where Zack was surprised when the Commander agreed to excuse Cloud from his classes for the day. At first Cloud was startled too, but the look Commander Hewley gave him on his way out made it clear he was allowing it only because of the burning of Nibelheim. And just maybe because it was Zack asking.

Zack had pulled him all over the building, showing him to mass amounts of people, most of which he couldn't remember now. Cloud wasn't even sure Zack had known all of them, considering some of the looks they had gotten.

So when Reno came in and started yelling to him, he really wasn't in the mood.

"Cloudy? C'mon, didn't ya miss me?"

"Honestly?" Cloud replied, turning back over and trying to block the noise, "I didn't realize you were gone."

He really should have known saying that wouldn't help.

"Whaaaaat?" Reno screeched, leaping up the beds and landing next to him. "No way, yo. I was gone all day, and you didn't even realize I wasn't there? What's with that, yo? You some kind of apathetic, I dunno, apathy person? No way, yo, not happenin'."

Cloud groaned and slapped his hands over his face. "I didn't go to classes myself, Reno. Long story. Zack happened, so please just leave me alone."

Hands gripped his shoulders and forcibly pulled him into an upright position, patting him on the head when he didn't immediately fall back down. When Reno got like this, there was no fighting him. "C'mon, talk to me, yo. Promise I won't scream at ya anymore."

Cloud shook his head, but swung his legs over the edge of the bunk anyway. "I just need some air now. I promise I'll amuse you tomorrow, when I'm not falling asleep on my feet."

Reno landed on the floor with a thump and Cloud followed, being slightly more mindful of the noise when he hit the ground.

"Well if it's air ya want, yo," Reno suggested despite his annoyance, "you could try goin' out on the emergency stairs. Don't worry, yo, the door doesn't set off an alarm or anythin'. I've tried it."

That was actually a good idea. Maybe the cool air would help clear his mind, and he could figure out how exactly he wanted to save the world this time.

Cloud nodded to Reno then walked out into the hallway in his bare feet. No one else had been in the room, which was strange, but no one else was out here either. Maybe there was an assembly they hadn't heard about since he and Reno hadn't attended classes. Either way, he doubted it was anything important.

He stood in the doorway for a moment before exiting completely, enjoying the feel of the cold air rushing over him and into the building. As soon as he stepped out the door shut behind him, but even if it didn't let him back in there were other ways to get into the building. Outside the sun had set, and the last remains of light in the sky slowly faded as he stood there. In the future technology had been developed that allowed machines to take pictures of the stars and planets, and even whole systems of other stars an unimaginable distance away. After the world had been completely explored, their focus shifted to the space. Cid would have loved it.

Cloud leaned against the railing, staring out at the city below. The streetlamps formed a pattern, he realized, forming lines going straight out from the Shinra tower. It made sense, he supposed, since Shinra was the whole reason Midgar had been built.

Then black and red leathery wings eclipsed the lights below and Cloud stepped back, prepared to run. He had a feeling he knew who it was, but if it was actually an escaped monster of Hojo's, he wasn't ready to die just yet.

Chaos landed and morphed into Vincent. In the future, the ex-Turk had lost the cape and shoes, trading familiarity with obscurity. Of course, people still noticed the golden gauntlet wrapped around his deformed hand, but they had decided there was no way to take it off without amputating the hand underneath.

"Cloud."

Cloud nodded. "Vincent."

Well, this was unexpected.

Vincent took one step forward. "How much do you know?"

Cloud raised one of his eyebrows, wondering how much Vincent knew, if he was asking that. "Up to 280 or so. What am I missing?" It was becoming more obvious that he was missing something. The ex-Turk's face revealed nothing, but that did nothing to ease cold feeling gathering in his stomach.

A pause, then, "Hold still." The metal hand reached out for his head, and Cloud froze. The claw went into his hair and pulled out again, this time holding a small electronic between two pointed fingers. Vincent dropped it over the edge and looked back at Cloud. He didn't say anything, but his question was clear.

"Reno. I'll go get him."

Vincent nodded and Cloud strode back through the building, his face carefully blank. He opened the door to his room and watched as Reno hurried to stuff a pair of earphones back into his locker. "Reno."

The red head turned around, eyes wide before they were smoothed back to normalcy. "Hey Cloudy, how was the weather out there?"

"Pretty nice, actually. I found an insect in my hair though, and came in to ask if you could help identify it. Otherwise I could bring it to you, but it probably wouldn't want to be inside and might bite."

Reno stood up, slightly pale, but otherwise composed. "Sure I'll come look at come look at it, yo."

Cloud nodded. "Don't worry," he added, "He'll love to meet you."

They stepped outside and Reno gasped. Vincent was looking very intimidating right then, with his hand on his gun and sideways to the breeze so that his cape fluttered behind him. Reno stood gaping at the man, and though the situation was certain to cause problems, Cloud couldn't help but smirk. Seeing Reno, even in a younger form, so outwardly affected by someone would never stop being a novelty.

"Cloud?" Reno croaked, taking a shaky step back. "We're buds, right? One trainee to another, I wouldn't never do nothin' to hurt you."

Vincent turned to look at the red head, his ghostly pale skin glowing in the moonlight. "We will not injure you. We are here purely for Hojo."

Cloud nodded stepping forward so that the three formed a triangle. "You see, Reno, things are a bit more complicated than they appear. However, I'm afraid we can't just let you go until we can be sure you won't be telling on us. I'm sorry, but," a soft glow of materia briefly lit up the balcony and Reno collapsed into the blond's arms. Cloud sighed and lowered the boy to the floor before turning back to Vincent. "You have a plan?"

The ex-Turk nodded.

"Good." Cloud returned to his feet and brushed off his palms on his pants. "When we came back I don't think I got all of my previous memories, so you'll have to fill me in as we go. We had better act fast though. That sleep Materia won't last forever."

Vincent nodded and paused before morphing into Chaos. The demonic figure hissed at Cloud before gesturing for the boy to get on its back. Cloud slowly climbed between its wings, fully aware that without the mako that had made him almost immortal, one swipe from Chaos could kill him if it refused to listen to Vincent.

The demon took off and Cloud held tight to its back as they swooped nearly straight down the Shinra tower. The wind fiercely blew back his hair and stung his eyes, making Cloud wish he had a pair of the goggles Reno always toted around.

Before he knew it they were on the ground again, the abrupt stop throwing Cloud from Chaos's back and sending him sprawling across the pavement. Chaos shifted back into Vincent in a transition that looked anything but painless, though the man always remained stoic through it. Cloud rose to his feet and looked expectantly at Vincent, but the red cloaked assassin only turned and started to walk up to the main enterance.

"Hold up!" Cloud whispered pointedly, running up and tagging Vincent's arm to get his attention. "I would rather hear the plan before we get started."

Vincent turned to stare at him., though Cloud couldn't tell what the man was thinking. "I go in and tell the receptionist that I have experiment results to deliver to the science department. She lets us into the lower floors. We find and kill Hojo." Vincent turned away and swept through the sliding doors. Cloud followed somewhat reluctantly, hating that he was almost clueless going in.

Since Vincent had landed on the balcony, Cloud had realized just how ill prepared he was to change anything. It was clear from the first sentence his old companion had uttered that Cloud was missing something big. Without that information he couldn't help plan, and without his old body he would be close to useless in a fight. He didn't even have a sword with him, just a bracer with a few Materia. How had he expected to affect anything before Vincent showed up? Without certain proof that he was from the future any information he released to those who could do something wouldn't be believed. Luckily, his assassin friend was here with a plan, and hopefully it extended beyond killing Hojo.

Vincent strode up to the desk with the confidence of a Soldier and the expression of a Turk, drawing the receptionist's immediate attention. "Do you have an appointment?" She asked, already bringing out her clipboard.

"We are to see Hojo," Vincent responded, his voice near monotone.

The woman nodded while flipping a page, before glancing up in surprise mingled with suspicion. "But I thought-"

"You are not being paid to think," the demon-wrought man growled, his voice echoing with a hint of chaos. "You are- I apologize. It is urgent."

The receptionist, her eyes wide, glanced down at the clipboard once more before setting it down and reaching for the phone, only to be stopped by Vincent's metal gauntlet.

"There is no appointment," he confessed, "but it is urgent. The name is Largent."

She nodded quickly, and Vincent let go of her arm. She abandoned the phone and pressed a button on her keyboard, opening the door to the first lab. "The professor isn't in," the woman hurried to tell them, "but an assistant should be able to help you."

Cloud looked at the two of them, confused on why they were being allowed access, but not about to ask while she could hear. He followed Vincent through the door and slid shut behind them, barely making a noise. Cloud glanced back at it uneasily before trotting to catch to Vincent, once again bemoaning his short legs.

"So," he asked, wishing he wasn't missing quite so much, "Why are we still here if Hojo isn't?"

"It would be suspicious if we were allowed access and then left after learning the professor wasn't here. Even though I doubt our problems can be solved by anyone else."

Now that didn't make any sense at all. "But isn't she in on-" Cloud's flow of words came to an abrupt halt when a gloved hand held his jaw shut.

"Be careful with your words. The wrong phrasing will get you killed. I did not know you to be so talkative."

Well he obviously wasn't getting any answers now, Cloud thought as he rubbed his head where bruises were surely forming. And though he needed to know what was going on right now, Vincent was right. Cameras were surely tracking their every move, and asking information sensitive questions probably wasn't the wisest idea. His last sentence was true as well. Perhaps spending so much time as a child was starting to have an effect on him. He definitely felt little, trailing after Vincent like he used to after Zack.

They came to a door and Vincent swung it open, revealing- actually, Cloud wasn't sure what it revealed, because as soon as the scent of mako and raw lifestream hit is nose he was down and out.


	20. The Lifestream

Cloud woke surrounded by a swirling green. Blinking dazedly, he got to his feet, as much as one could get to their feet when there didn't seem to be a floor, and looked around. It all seemed to be misty shades of green, and for a moment he started to panic. He had just been entering a lab with Vincent, right? What if they had taken him again? Was he immersed in mako? This couldn't happen - if he was here there was no one to stop the future from happening, no one to spare Zack, Reno, and Aerith. Marlene, Denzel, and so many others would once again become orphans.

When he got to this thought in particular Cloud froze. Marlene, she lost her mother before Nibelheim, yes? If only he could remember... Corel. The Corel coal mines. Barret, that's right, how could he forget, Barret said something about Shinra building a reactor? Then they blew up the town. But when was it? He had to stop it. He had to stop all of it. Every single thing-

But Nibelheim was already gone. How could he be expected to save everyone when he couldn't even prevent the burning of his hometown? Everything was different, but he couldn't figure out what he had changed...

"Do you remember yet, Cloud?"

He spun around, or maybe the greeness spun around him, he couldn't quite tell, and suddenly Aerith was before him, her lilting voice still echoing in his ears.

At his lack of an answer the Ancient frowned before gesturing into the green, causing a lighter spark to engulf his vision for a moment. She was obviously trying to get him to remember something, but that wasn't important. Aerith was here, and it was his Aerith. Or was it?

"You're not real, are you?" he asked with a sigh, suddenly feeling very tired and why was he even here anyway?

The Aerith look alike shook her head, and Cloud realized that she was exactly how he remembered her. Normally that would be fine, but 250 years takes a toll on the memory. He looked at her harder and started to notice the lack of detail in her clothes, the color of her hair, and even her face was vague. Her nose was a normal nose, and no one has a normal nose. Not even an Ancient.

"Do you know why that is?" the Aerith asked with a smile. "It's because your idea of a nose, or any general object really, is a compilation of every nose you've ever seen, just as this image is a combination of every Aerith you remember. "Do you know why you're here?"

Cloud inclined his head, waiting to hear more but at the same time fearing the result. It seemed he would find out why he had appeared in the past, but he couldn't think of any positive reason for it to happen, not if he was being talked to by the planet.

"You're here because you don't have all of your memories."

One of Cloud's eyebrows arched in response. Not having enough memories did not seem to be his current problem. He certainly had more than the first go around, and that turned out semi decently. Sure, Zack died horribly after five years of torture and Aerith didn't live near long enough, but from the planet's perspective two lives, and even all those who died in the aftermath, shouldn't be enough to warrant time travel.

The Aerith huffed and turned aside, pacing a little before turning towards him again and explaining. "You didn't get 'sent back' after two hundred years, you made the choice after two thousand. The world was falling apart because of the virus's constant interference, and the planet offered the two who had been alive at the virus's introduction, Chaos's vessel and yourself, the chance to fix things."

"Choice?" Cloud asked skeptically, "how much of a choice was it, really?"

The Aerith shrugged. "The Planet was falling apart, so it was either contribute to its salvation or die in space. If you had refused we would have listened. We don't need you specifically. Yours isn't the first timeline, it's just the first that has given us this option."

The time traveler's eyes narrowed. The more the not-Aerith was talking, the more he didn't know what was happening. "Be clear and concise. I believe Vincent is waiting for me."

"You know nothing," the Aerith replied with a chuckle, seeming less like the real Aerith every moment. "The amount of time you perceive you spend here has no correlation to the time you are unconscious. No one is waiting, so be still and listen.

"When puddles of Lifestream started appearing on the surface of your decaying world we grabbed your consciousness, as we have again now, and offered the choice. You, unlike the one we offered the same choice, timelines ago, accepted. We were glad of this, as we thrive with the length of the world, and starting the Planet again saps nearly all of our energy. You were to immerse yourself in Lifestream, and from there we would open a hole from you to your past self. Through that hole your memories would be transferred as all organic material on your person disintegrated, leaving your memories free to travel and your processed possessions floating to slowly corrode. However, we were unable to close the gap we had created and your possessions started coming through as well.

"In theory this process should have worked perfectly, but the contact of a virus tainted human to your past self as the memories were flooding through the hole prevented many of them from being absorbed into your being, leaving them scattered. You may encounter a few of them, but it is unlikely you will regain even a portion of your lost experience. Do you understand?"

Cloud nodded hesitantly, wary of the not-Aerith gesturing angrily as it spoke. "What am I here for then, to kill Sephiroth?"

"~No~" the Aerith roared, its voice leaking power. "Destroying a tainted being would likely activate the virus, and even if it remains dormant the virus tainted being will mix with the Lifestream, leaving us in a similar position as before. You must ensure all tainted beings do not come into contact with the body currently hosting the virus, and if possible remove the taint so there is no chance for it to join with the Lifestream. This is most important for the one who first activated the virus."

"So... you want me to save Sephiroth?"

The Aerith gnashed its teeth in frustration. "If only your mind wasn't limited by the barriers of human comprehension. No, the virus-spawn will only contaminate the Lifestream if its form is immersed. You did that last time, sending not only the virus-spawn but part of the virus's vessel itself into us. It is your duty to fix this."

If Cloud was standing he would have needed to sit down. Everything that had happened, everyone that had died, that was all his fault?

No. He had done this already, he didn't need to spend any more time being sorry for something he had near nothing to do with. The way Sephiroth had been acting he was just as likely to have jumped into the reactor himself if no one had been there, and there was no way he was going to allow the Planet to blame its destruction on him.

"Regardless whether or not you believe yourself to be at fault," the Aerith continued, and Cloud wished that his thoughts could be private, "the activator is the one you are looking for, the spark."

Supposing that I even agree to do our bidding, Cloud thought resentfully, but still tried to decode what the Planet was saying. "I don't get it," he said after some time had passed. "If not Sephiroth, than who?"

The Aerith shifted, its throat struggling to form the words it needed. "We do not have names as you do, we can not-. We take the concept the name makes you think of from your head, yet without you thinking of it we can not force the picture into your mind. The last time we tried we had to reset the timeline. He is the flint, the agitator, the contrast of us. He speaks of a deity and reads from a book."

Speaks of a deity and reads from a book? Cloud wondered. That could be anyone. Literally anyone. Nearly everyone considers there to be some sort of god, and most of the population is literate, hmm. The flint, again with fire references, the agitator, that reminds me or Reno, but I'm near positive he doesn't have any Jenova cells. The contrast of us? Probably refers to him, and it is a him, apparently, being tainted with Jenova and refined mako.

Wait. Contrast is a rather specific word to use. It could just as easily have been opposite or even different, or it could have just said virus tainted again. That means it wasn't just trying to talk about Jenova. Contrast... like black on white? Contrasting colors? If so, the Lifestream is green, so the contrast of green is red. That means...

"~Yes~!" The Aerith crowed, almost before he could finish his thought. "He is the one. Do not let him activate. Remove the cells from his body and he will not ignite the others. Do the same with any others tainted and the threat will be extinguished."

The Aerith started to fade and Cloud panicked. "No, don't go yet! How am I supposed to do any of this? Why should me and Vincent be able to do anything when all of Shinra's scientists couldn't? Don't you dare try and put this all on my shoulders again, I'm done with 'saving the world.' Give me one reason why I shouldn't just walk away from Shinra and live out my life in peace."

The Aerith jolted back into place, a snarl on its face. "Everyone you care about and yourself will be destroyed when the virus the planet, this time far ahead of when you played a role in the shaping of events."

Cloud hardened his jaw, eyes stony. "As far as I'm concerned, everyone I care about already has died. And, according to you, we'll just live again when you reset the timeline."

The Aerith froze, its eyes flickering from point to point. "They are not the ones you lost, that is correct, but you have started to become attached to them again and would not be able sit back and watch them die."

Cloud laughed grimly, and if the exchange was happening in a corporeal environment his hands would have been clenched at his sides. "What, like sat by and watched Zack die? And Aerith? And every single person I have met since then? Try me. I dare you."

"... We can not reset the timeline."

His tension and determination left him in a rush, flowing out and away. Cloud sighed and looked up. "Tell me you're joking," the man asked. "Just tell me it's not true and I'll consider doing what you want."

"It is true," the Aerith answered, "that is what the virus does. It inhibits our capabilities to prevent us from recreating ourself without it. Our only chance of ensuring our continued existence is to make it so that it never infected us in the first place. This is that chance."

"Fine," Cloud responded after pausing to let the silence soak in. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll do it, but only because not helping would mean existence itself ending. Now bring me back to Vincent."

The Aerith nodded as it faded into the swirling green. "As you wish..."

 

 

Cloud blinked open his eyes, moaning and raising a hand to block the harsh sunlight. "Wha-?" he started to ask before the ground jolted, slamming his head back onto the hard wood floor. "Vincent?" he called.

"Hello Cloud. It is Cloud, yes?" a polite voice asked as a red face came into view. That certainly wasn't Vincent.


	21. Letters

Vincent,

Why exactly did you leave me here? Not that I don't appreciate Nanaki and Bugenhagen's hospitatlity, but we are supposed to be saving the world right now. Not to mention what I still don't know what you did in the lab, or how you got the receptionist to let you in. Tell me.

Cloud

...

Reassignment Form

Name: Reno

Transferring To: Apprentice shadowing Agent Rude in routine above plate rounds.

Transferring From: Cadet surveillance.

Reason for Transfer: The position was no longer necessary.

Signed Tseng

...

Cloud,

Discussing such matters through writing is not safe. Do not write any critical information and burn letters promptly after reading. I will only tell you this much as the elder Chaos requests you know all as well.

Largent is a code among Hojo's subjects, letting any resisting them access to the lab that without immediate care disaster will strike. Normally this is accompanied by a security force. I do not know why it was not that time.

The purpose of entering the lab was to kill Hojo, but as he was absent the secondary goal was release Nanaki. That was successfully completed.

You are in Cosmo Canyon because as you are now you cannot provide adequate support to completing our cause. In light of this information I am currently in Rocket Town, as you know, garnering support there. You are to stay in Cosmo Canyon and Bugenhagen will assist in returning your memories. Once you have regained the majority of them you are to attempt the to destroy reactors in the way you have in the future. Until then, remain where you are.

Vincent

...

Dear Angeal,

I don't know why you're making me write letters when I can just call you or mom or whoever, but since you are I figured I'd write one to you. Kalm is really... calm. It's stupid. This is stupid. Why am I here "monitoring public safety" when I could be back in Midgar, training? Get me out of here, please. I'm dying of boredom. Seriously. See the red dots all over the page? That's me coughing up blood.

Just kidding, I swear, don't put me on forced leave or whatever, it's just ketchup. Don't shake your head like that, I don't want to waste time writing this letter so I am doing it while I'm eating. Not that there's anything to do here anyway. SAVE ME!

Your bestest student ever who really needs some more training,

Zack Fair

...

Vincent

What do you mean "I cannot provide adequate support?" I may not have extreme levels of mako, but I still know what I'm doing. I am not going to just sit around waiting to maybe remember something useful. You want reactors destroyed? I'll destroy them. I'm not useless.

Cloud

...

NInccnt

Donl worny I stoqbed hImn. Rut yoo shoutd really qet a hew phonc. WnItInq wIthovt bandz Is nard

oººo  
. O (pawprint)

...

Dear Mom and Dad,

I got promoted! I'm Second Class now! I mean, you'll already know by the time you get this, 'cause I'm going to call you and all, but Angeal's making me write letters and I couldn't think of anything else to say. He says he's making me write so that when I get all awesome like he is I'll be able to do paperwork at least semi-legibly, but I think he just likes watching me suffer. Seriously, sometimes he makes me write letters to him when we're in the same room, it's so dumb.

Anyway, remember that kid Spiky I was telling you about that one time? Well a few months ago he disappeared and no one has even done an investigation or anything! I mean, a little while before he was going to quit, and I guess sometimes people just bail without a word, but I really didn't think he was like that. What if he's been murdered or something?! I tried to get Angeal to let me look for him, but then he sent me to Kalm. I actually kind of felt betrayed. And as if that's not enough, whenever I try to talk to Reno about it he just kind of changes the subject.

Kunsel's been great though! He was promoted a little before me, but now he thinks he's going to go into information instead of combat, which kind of sucks. I mean, he still spars with me and stuff, but now he's busy a lot of the time doing who knows what. Sometimes I think he just likes to gossip. I could never do whatever it is he's working on, but you already know that. Too much paperwork. I think this is long enough for Angeal, so that's all for now.

Love you both,

Zack

...

Notification of Change in Status

Name: Reno

Current Position: Apprentice

New Position: Turk Ensign, Junior Partner of Agent Rude

All changes effective immediately. For more information file a report to your superior.

...

Shinra Message Stationary

To: Zack, SOLDIER (I don't know his name or class, sorry, I don't really know him at all, really sorry.)

You probably don't remember me, I haven't seen you around for about a year, but you were friends with Cloud, right? It's probably nothing, but I have an aunt in Rocket Town who heard Cid arguing with someone named Cloud, and it's probably not him, but I thought maybe you would want to know. If you see him, tell him to come back, he actually had a chance at getting in.

From: MP Ian

...

Reassignment Form

Name: Reno

Transferring To: Solo surveillance of Rocket Town

Transferring From: Routine rounds under-plate with Partner Agent Rude

Reason for Transfer: New information reveals possible anti-Shinra sentiment.

Signed Tseng

...

Vincent

I'm not going to remember anything. Let me leave.

Cloud

...

Heyyyyyyyy, Cloudy!

You know, I knew you hadn't gone all traitory and crap, yo. It was that guy with the cape, Vincent, right? Yeah, I knew he was blackmailin you or somthin. Yo, you're so lucky I was stationed here and not, like, Rude or someone. I love the man to death, but sometimes he can just be an itty bitty too much of a rules follower. Technically I'm not supposed to be talkin to ya, cause you're all suspect and whatever after that whole leavin with Vincent bit, yo, but I forgive ya. This note you sent is totally proof that you're being held against your will and stuff. Don't worry, I'll get Zack to go rescue you, yo. It'll be like one of those movies Cissnei forces me to watch, except without the kissing. To tell you the truth, I actually kind of like those movies. Don't tell Ciss though, she only has them cause her grandma has delusions of her being a girly girl. Anyway, Vincent's not here, he left awhile back. Yo, if he's not where you are, Cosmo Canyon judging by the return address, you might try escaping by yourself? I know he's a bit scary, but surely a tough little trainee like you can take out a few grunts yeah?

Glad to know you're alive, don't give up yet,

Reno, Turk Ensign (I'm a Turk!)

...

Reassignment Form

Name: Reno

Transferring To: Routine rounds under-plate with Partner Agent Rude

Transferring From: Solo surveillance of Rocket Town

Reason for Transfer: Incompetence in the field.

Signed Tseng

...

Dear Mom and Dad,

Reno said he found Cloud! Well, he didn't find him find him, but he knows where he is, or where he was anyway. Spiky's not dead! Maybe I can go rescue him. Reno says he's being held hostage by this crazy dude going around telling people mako's bad for the environment and is killing the planet, and it's all part of Shinra's plan to take over the world. How crazy is that? I gotta go, Angeal says I don't have to write any more this week.

Love,

Zack

...

Shinra Goes to War Wutai!

In retaliation of an alleged ambush on a group of ambassadors negotiating to install mako reactors, Shinra makes a bold move and declares war on the nation. Hopefully our brave troops will be able to overthrow the totalitarian government currently oppressing the people of Wutai and reveal to them the benefits of mako energy. Pictured at left is President Shinra giving a motivational speech to the first troop to deploy. Earlier this week...

...

Obituary

Those lost in the conflict with Wutai this week: Gareth Anderson, Margaret Astashinski,...Ian Renner...

...

Dear Mom and Dad,

We found Spiky! Kunsel told me he was found being held captive in Wutai. Since he technically never resigned do you think they'll still let him become a SOLDIER? It's been so long, and I doubt they've been letting him train in that time. It's weird though, I know he's back in the building somewhere but I haven't seen him yet.

Just talked to Kunsel, he said they're detaining him as a traitor until further notice, but that's outrageous! Cloud would never betray the company, he's the one who was kidnapped. I'll have to get Angeal to do something, I'm sure the little Spiky's confused and scared.

Oh, I almost forgot. Angeal told me I'm not going to Wutai any time soon, which kind of sucks. I want to go and do something heroic before the war ends, you know? But at the same time... I'm kind of relieved. I mean, people are dying out there. Just a few days ago I was looking through the paper Angeal had out on the table and this kid Spiky was friends with, Ian, I think, he died in battle. He was a cadet like Cloud, you know? He wasn't as good as Spiky, so he didn't make the cut for SOLDIER and was sent to the Military Police instead. It scared me. It's different when it's someone you know dying, and he was just a kid.

Best wishes,

Zack


	22. Escape

Kunsel stared at the surveillance screen, impatiently tapping his finger on the mouse. "C'mon Cloud," he muttered, glancing back over his shoulder. If he was caught in here... well, he wouldn't be in trouble, but still. He's a SOLDIER, and the guards who run the station are just that, grunts. He was obviously allowed in here, right?

Finally the small blonde approached the door to his cell, shocked when it opened. Kunsel was a bit hurt. You would think after years of snooping around people would actually believe what he told them, but alas, 'twas the life he led. Cloud had better be grateful, though. And stay away from Shinra. He didn't go through all this work for nothing.

The makoless blond quickly but on the grunt uniform left in the hallway, ignoring the jeers from the less fortunate prisoners in adjoining cells. Good boy, Cloud, Kunsel thought. If he keeps it up he might just get out of here. Garbed in the odd blue clothes and helmet the boy ran from the room, and Kunsel slid a hand over his eyes, muttering "Idiot." You don't run when you're trying to look inconspicuous. Peering at the next screen Kunsel winced as Cloud opened the door right in the faces of two real guards. He held his breath as the boy was talking to them, gesturing wildly. Apparently what he said worked, as the two glanced in to the prison hallway before running off at a trot, one putting his walkie-talkie to his mouth as he went. Cloud went off in the other direction, still running.

Kunsel stood up and pushed in his chair, abandoning the surveillance room to take up the next part in the plan. Walking, not sauntering, Zack is the one who saunters, around the corner, he made it to the elevator and hit the down button, not waiting for long before the door slid open and three more guards flew out, almost knocking him over.

"Sir!" One of them shouted, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Ah, Gethrode, just the man he was about to find. "Oh, Gethrode, just who I was looking for. I was just talking to Calvin. He needs you to finish up his shift, his wife's giving birth and it sounded like there might be some complications," Kunsel responded, keeping his face grave.

The man paled. "Shit!" he shouted, biting his lip and looking at the other two. "You two go back and help with the search, I'll take up surveillance. Sounds like Calvin just had to leave, he wasn't compromised." Gethrode nodded at Kunsel, saying, "One of the prisoners has escaped, we were ordered to recover Calvin, if necessary."

"Good luck!" Kunsel shouted to the three retreating backs, secretly wishing them anything but. He hurried into the elevator, throwing out his arm to block the closing door. Pressing the button for the ground level, he stood back, praying he had gotten on at the right time. The elevator stopped with a beep and Kunsel swore under his breath. He didn't have time for this. He looked to the opening door, an order to hurry on his tounge, only for his voice to fail him when Reeve Tuesti stepped in.

The Genius of Development nodded at him, and he nodded back, hands starting to shake. Tuesti, the Reeve Tuesti was in the same elevator as him, a lowly SOLDIER. Was his helmet on straight? Oh Planet, had he put on deodorant this morning? Kunsel couldn't remember. This man was practically the reason he had joined SOLDIER, as strange as that might seem. The inventor was young sure, but all he had accomplished in his short years was enough to win him a place near the head of Shinra, far higher than Kunsel could even dream. It wasn't just that the man was by far the most competent Kunsel had ever heard of, he was also nice. Nice, gentle, and everything a Shinra executive shouldn't be, and yet here he was. Kunsel had met him, when he was little. Even when the man had just been a teenager he had been busy helping people. Tuesti's little robots had found Kunsel's dad after an earthquake had collapsed the house with his father inside. Once the little machine found him rescue crews had been quick to follow.

And now here he was, standing quivering in front of his idol, about to commit treason. What would the man think of him if he knew? Planet, he couldn't even talk, he was so nervous. What if-

The elevator slowed to a stop, allowing Tuesti to leave. Kunsel sighed in relief, collapsing against the wall. If the man had said anything, even if he had just glanced back as he was leaving, Kunsel might have spilled the whole plot. The elevator descended a few more floors before halting again, allowing a small grunt on board.

"So..." Kunsel spoke, wishing the elevator would lower faster. "How are things back in the barracks?" The grunt glanced back at him, tilting his head slightly before turning back to face the doors. Alright then, no chatter while we wait. I can deal with that, Kunsel thought with a sigh. How was he supposed to remain up to date if randoms wouldn't talk to him? Of course part of the problem was that once they talked to him they weren't just a random any more. They had a name, a face, hopes, fears. He almost preferred it when they, like this one here, kept their helmets on.

The elevator reached the bottom floor and they both got off, Kunsel stopping the MP from heading off at a run. Turning the boy, and this one was quite young, to face him, Kunsel ordered, "Stop running. There's a prisoner loose, and if you go running for an exit someone's going to think the worst of you. If you walk, they're more likely to think that you don't know, as opposed to that you're trying to get out of ordered over time." Planet, the idiots in this place. How did Tuesti stand it?

The boy nodded and they walked towards the main entrance together. He probably should scold him for getting out of duty, but that's not how Kunsel did things. He didn't make enemies, he made acquaintances, close enough to gossip with but not close enough to get favors out of him. Except Zack, but even he had been growing more distant.

It was Zack's fault he was doing this at all, actually. The problem with making friends was that once Kunsel was devoted to a person, he never let go. His loyalty was horrendously fierce, even when the other person's wasn't. Which was why he was currently committing treason for the sake of his friend, even when said friend didn't know it.

The truth was, having Cloud locked up was killing Zack. Why the SOLDIER cared so much about the little enigma Kunsel had no clue, but he did know that in the dwindling time Zack spent with him, the Second was absentminded and sad, which wasn't something Zack should be. He was a puppy, a hyper, charismatic child who spent his time running around having fun and pulling pranks, not brooding. But brooding he was, and so here Kunsel was, helping a mysterious prisoner escape.

They reached the exit and Kunsel curved around to lean against the wall, waiting for Cloud. To his surprise, the MP followed him, just staring at him when Kunsel glared.

"What now?" the boy asked, and Kunsel almost fell over. That was Cloud! What- How- He hadn't even noticed.

"Now we leave," Kunsel replied, keeping his cool. It wouldn't do to have people think there were things he didn't know. He started off at a faster walk than before, but not anything unreasonable. This was his business walk, the kind where you walk with a purpose, so that no one wants to keep up with you. Of course, the effect was ruined by a little MP scrambling to keep up with you, but whatever.

Cloud eventually fell into the gait, not in step, his legs were too short, but close enough that the pair didn't look ridiculous. "No, what will I do now?" the boy asked, at least having the brains to speak quietly and keep his head facing forwards.

One of Kunsel's eyebrows rose beneath his helmet. "Now you leave. You leave, stay out of trouble, stay safe, and most importantly stay away from Shinra. I'm not going to get you out again if you get caught."

"You're the one who planned this?" Cloud demanded, and Kunsel was sure shock would have been painted on the boy's face if he had looked down. Planet, why was he always underestimated?

The SOLDIER snorted. "Who did you think was in control, Zack? A mouse would finish a maze faster than him, he couldn't plan his way out of a box, let alone a prison."

"But what's your motive? Did he ask you to get me out? He should be risking himself like this, and it's not like I can do anything anyway, not without mako."

Kunsel was done. He was so done with everyone ignoring him, always assuming things about him about others, about everything. People always assume, that's all they do. That was why he was in SOLDIER, and they were in jail. "He didn't ask me, I did it myself, thank you. And it's true, you can't do anything. I don't know what your goal is, but you're no longer going to work towards it. Did you not here me when I said to stay away from Shinra?"

Cloud shook his head as they neared the train station. "What do you want me to do, become a farmer, breed chocobos for the rest of my life? How am I supposed to do that when-"

Kunsel turned, pushing Cloud against a streetlamp. "Stay. Away. From. Shinra. Maybe after everything cools off I'll let Zack go and visit you, where ever you are, but until then you are to maintain distance. If you get arrested again I swear to all that's holy I will ruin you. You think I'm not able to do something like that? I know enough people. If I can get you out of jail be assured that I can ship you right back in. If Zack cries anymore on your behalf you won't see the light of day again."

Cloud stared at him but Kunsel couldn't read his expression because of the helmet. "You love him, don't you?" The boy murmured, sounding sad.

...What? Why in the world would Cloud think that? Kunsel shook his head, letting go of the boy's shoulders and stepping back. "No. Come on, we have to get you out of here."

They entered the train but didn't sit down, both of them too tense. There shouldn't be any problem, as passengers from the plate were trusted, but the potential of getting caught kept both of them standing, ready to run.

It was odd, Kunsel thought as the train entered a tunnel, descending to through the plate to exit the city. Normally he was able to act calm, even when he was frantic inside though. Now though... "What are you planning to do?"

Cloud glanced at him, helmet once again preventing him from getting his reaction. "I'm not going to give up, despite what you said. What I need to do is unclear yet, but one of my overarching goals is to save Zack. That's something you can be sure of. He was my best friend, and I'm not going to abandon him, even if it kills me."

Kunsel nodded. That was something he could understand. "Just know that if I'm sent to take you out, I will do as I'm told. This," he spoke, making a motion with his hand, "does not mean I am at all attached to you. Get yourself in a mess and I will not be there to help you."

"Understood."

The train slowed to a stop. As Cloud turned to go Kunsel called out, making the boy pause. "If you ever reconsider," The SOLDIER said, a smirk curling his lips, "I hear Choco Billy's hiring."

Cloud snorted, but resolve remained painted on his face. "Sorry, but I don't think chocobo breeding is in my future." He turned and left, not sparing a backwards glance as he left the city.

The train started back, and Kunsel sighed. He hadn't lied, he wasn't attached, but this kid was definitely someone he would like, if the circumstances were different. As it was, it was likely the next time he would see the boy would be on the other side of his sword.


	23. Cloud

Cloud growled, flicking his head to dislodge the sweat falling into his eyes. He wasn't even doing anything tiring, but his younger body was no where near cut out for even this. Just walking from one town to another was exhausting, not to mention fending off monsters along the way. He understood now why his companions had needed to stop so often.

He was going to Banora. It was Genesis's hometown, as he had gathered from the First Class's fan club, and Planet knew he would need all the information he could get his hands on. Trying to look back who knew how many years into the past which was actually the future through memories he wasn't even sure could be counted as his own anymore was difficult enough, and Cloud doubted -knew- he had cared much about the red haired man in the first place.

A rumbling started up from behind him and Cloud glanced around wildly, trying to find a place to hide. It was probably no one important, though he had little right to make judgments like that considering he himself could barely be considered relevant anymore, but it never hurt to be safe. Except when you spent too much time being safe while everyone else was dying and -stop thinking.-

His memories were starting to come back. His memories were coming back and it was painful and horrible -and how many people has he killed- and he wasn't even getting anything useful out of it. Cloud's memories were coming back, and not just the ones Bugenhagen had said would.

Yes, he was getting back the holes in the past -future- hundreds of years and while he was learning things every moment, most of it required mako and the rest was useless. He legitimately didn't need to know at the current moment how amazing of a source of energy solar power was. Such knowledge would be helpful for rebuilding, but before they could need to rebuild they had to make sure there was anyone left to help.

But at the same time, he was also getting back his pre-mako memories. Memories of his mom -who's now dead, thanks to him. She lived longer the first time- and of Nibelheim and he was nervous -scared, he was scared out of his skull and what's going on he doesn't understand- because it felt like somehow, and it made no sense even to him, but they were rubbing off on him. They were making him feel like the child he had been, but only some -all- of the time. It was beyond bizarre, but that didn't matter right now because any second those approaching chocobos would be in his line of sight, and consequently, he in theirs.

Cloud ducked behind one of the infrequent trees as the chocobos approached, though such slim cover wouldn't be much help if they were truly after him. He held his breath as they grew closer, letting it out only when they had passed him and were safely down the road. He emerged, trying to see who they were, but they were wearing hoods. There were only two, and Turks didn't normally ride chocobos, so he should be safe.

Soon enough Banora appeared on the horizon and he hurried towards it, ignoring his aching legs and shoulder. It probably wasn't good to go on through leg pain -it's not- but he honestly had no idea. Mako had always handled minor injuries in the past, and his drive to contribute was not about to let him stop within sight of the town.

He got to the town and paid for a room at the inn with money he had gotten from the monsters he had slain. It was certainly a good thing they dropped so much money, the way he had gone through potions on the way here. Cloud lowered himself onto the bed and leaned back. He lowered his hand to rub the outside of his leg near his knee -he needs to take better care of himself, a hurt IT band is no joke- and hoped it wasn't anything serious. Though he doubted his part in the whole plot would involve much fighting, he needed to be ready, just in case.

After eating a meager -well sized- meal of bread and potatoes, he went to bed, hoping he would be able to discover something important in the morning.

 

 

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing here that mattered.

He had spent the whole day searching, and the only thing he had found out about Genesis was that he was the son of some rich family who owned an apple orchard or something, he didn't care -it could be important.-

Groaning, Cloud sat at a table in the inn. Maybe, maybe... maybe it would be better to think if his leg would stop hurting. He hated saying this, but if wanted to be at all useful he needed to -stop hurting himself- either get mako or get rest. Since only one of those was an option at this point he should probably go to bed.

Yes, sleep would be a good thing right now. All he needed to do was get up, climb up the stairs, close the door behind him, and fall on his bed. That was all. Then he could get everything done tomorrow, when he was feeling better.

...Who was he kidding. Even if it meant hurting more the next day, he needed every minute to find out as much as he could. He was practically useless physically, but that didn't mean he would just lay around all day. With that Cloud pushed himself to his feet, ignoring any twinges his leg was giving off. The question was, who could he ask?

"Hey, you, guy with the crazy blond hair."

Cloud swung around, one of his eyebrows already raised. "Me?" he asked pointing at his own chest.

"Yeah, c'mere, s'important."

The woman speaking was clearly drunk, leaning against the wall with one hand braced on it, her short black hair sticking up in the back where the wall had disordered it. Though the situation made him slightly uneasy -no, stop, don't talk to drunk strangers- he approached. Even in his current, makoless condition, he figured a hundred plus years of battle knowledge should lend him the upper hand should the encounter go sour.

"What is it?" he muttered once he was a short distance away.

The woman grinned. "You got a freind waiting ou'side. Gave me a pretty penny to tell you."

Cloud froze. Since, at the present moment, many of those he considered friends -he doesn't even know these people, who are they?- were out for his blood, following this lady's advice and going out to meet the person wasn't a good idea. On the other hand, this might be the lead he's been waiting for.

It could also be -no, that's stupid, he barely even knows the SOLDIER- Zack.

Deciding with a sharp nod to the messenger, he turned and walked out the door, senses primed for the slightest tell of danger. He didn't see anyone he knew, but that didn't mean they weren't that they weren't there. Walking over to lean on the wall of the inn he waited, eyes flicking back and forth over all passersbys.

"Cloud"

A gasp nearly escaped him as he spun around, mentally cursing the demon infested ex-Turk. No matter how alert he was being, the man always got the jump on him.

"Vincent," Cloud murmured, examining his -oh, Planet, how could he be friends with someone who instills so much terror- friend. "You're not here to take me back to Cosmo Canyon, are you?"

The immortal shook his head, eyes ghosting over everyone near by. "No. Let's speak further away from here. Come."

Cloud set off after him, taking too-quick steps to keep up. Eventually they reached a point Vincent deemed distant enough from the town, sheltered by some apple trees. "So?" Cloud asked a bit coldly. "Why are you here, if not to lock me up again?"

Vincent stared at him, his face blank. "She's dead."

Cloud felt panic race through his system. Who was dead? Yuffie, Aerith, Tifa, -Tifa!- Elena, none of them were supposed to die! "Who?" he asked shortly, managing to keep his voice even. There was too much to do to get broken over one death when wasting time would cause so many more.

Vincent shook his head, his face remaining blank. Perhaps too blank. "I am sorry, you misunderstand. It is dead. Jenova. She is destroyed."

Relief flowed through his body like a cooling wave, washing out his tense muscles and panicked heart. At the same time, it felt, well, odd. Jenova was dead? All these years fighting its remnants and he wasn't even there when it died. "Are you sure? Cloud questioned, "If there's enough left of her to activate Sephiroth..."

"There is not."

...Alright then. "What now?" he asked a bit blandly, not quite able to get his head around the idea that such a major force had been taken out in a matter of months. Of course, they still had the whole degradation bit to deal with, but that wasn't what had kept the planet on the brink of death for centuries.

Vincent nodded slowly, acknowledging Cloud's astonishment. "There is a plan for Genesis and those with enough Jenova and mako in them to degrade. There may be unforeseen consequences for each of them as individuals, but it should negate any degradation and remains of Jenova left in their blood stream."

That was nice, Cloud supposed. "Are you going to tell me what this plan is?" he asked, impatience nipping at his fingertips.

Vincent shook his head, stepping forward. "There is something else. You can feel it, can't you?"

Cloud stepped back, unnerved. What was Vincent talking about? He couldn't feel -yes he could, yes he could- anything out of the ordinary. Just the slight childlike -he wasn't a child, and if he had been he certainly wasn't now- feeling he got every once and a while, but that wasn't as important -yes it was, it really was- and even if it was he -he, Cloud, his self- "Stop it!" Cloud yelped, holding a hand to his head before looking up in desperate confusion. "What's happening to me, Vincent? It's like being controlled by Sephiroth, but all of my actions are my own. I barely even notice it unless I'm thinking about it."

Vincent hesitated, which was never good news. The ex-Turk rarely made an attempt to be tactful, and that he was now did not instill confidence. "I myself had thought we had integrated seamlessly, but it appears with the destruction of our greatest threat returns what we had been repressing."

"And what is it we've been repressing?" Cloud growled, his -his- hand twitching.

"Well," Vincent explained quietly, "we are the ones who have been doing the controlling. The sending of memories through time appears to have sent a part of our sentience as well, a part that, up until now, has unknowingly overpowered our past sentience. Mine is quite content with the situation, but I fear yours may be more confused and high strung than mine was."

Cloud shivered. High strung was -is, was, is, was, will be, he doesn't know!- definitely the right word. He wasn't completely aware of it, -how could he not be aware of himself?- but there were definitely times when his emotions and thought processes had been skewed by it. "So I have, all this time, been possessing my own body?"

Vincent nodded. "You will need to come to an agreement with it. Try to keep in mind what you felt when you had no control over your actions."

Cloud -he needs help- nodded. "I'll try." It was probably going to be hard -can he hear him?- but he had to -give him his body back- at least try.

"Good luck," Vincent responded, turning to leave but freezing at the sound of a voice.

"Well, what do we have here?"


	24. Reno

Cloud swore in his head, turning to face the intruder. This wasn't fair. -none of this is- He had been careful, he had checked to make sure they weren't being followed, he had scouted out the town to make sure there wasn't anyone who could recognize him before entering, and maybe he didn't have enhanced sentences anymore -he never had- but that shouldn't mean he's suddenly incompetent.

"What do you want, Genesis," he demanded, not willing to play games at the moment.

Genesis snorted, turning to look back over his shoulder at his friend. "Are you hearing this Angeal? Here he is in my family's orchard talking about possession and he wants to know what I want?" Turning back to Cloud he smirked, raising his arms dramatically. "Your morrow is barren of promises, my friend. This journey ends in your eternal slumber."

The man's wrist glowed red and Cloud jumped back, turning to Vincent. Or rather, to where Vincent had been not seconds before. He needed to get away -stop running- but without Chaos's flight escape was useless. Cloud turned back, ready to roll away from a materia strike but stopped to stare instead. Where previously Genesis had stood, poised to rain fiery terror upon Cloud's head was now a writhing mass of SOLDIER and ex-Turk. It was two on one, but, not in the way he expected.

"Cloud," Vincent grunted, his voice beginning to sound a bit demonic. "Left arm, upper pocket. Leg is safest."

Cloud hurried to respond, approaching the wrestling trio cautiously and ignoring how wrong this was because Angeal was helping Vincent hold down Genesis and it didn't make any sense -none of this has- but he could worry about that later because he wasn't going to be useless, damn it.

Carefully taking the syringe out of the concealed pocket on his friend's arm he knelt, hyper aware of the struggling SOLDIER's attempts to escape, which could be fatal to the unenhanced. When he saw an opening he struck, arm steady as it drove into Genesis's leg. Injecting the liquid with an unyielding force, he winced as it drove an ear piercing shriek out of the crimson clad man.

"What is this?" Angeal gasped as his friend flailed with renewed vigor. "You said it would help!"

"It is helping," Cloud growled as he scrambled away from the scene, frustrated as ever with his heightened mortality. He didn't make it this far to die in some stupid accident at the cusp of victory. "I don't know exactly what Vincent cooked up, but it probably has to tear all of the Jenova and degradation out of him, cell by cell. I can't imagine it would let me talk be pleasant."

The two of them stiffened, but he had no idea why. Genesis was calming down, and it seemed like "It's working?" everything was going the way it was supposed. Genesis gave two more spasms before falling still, but Angeal remained holding him down while Vincent rose to his feet.

"Cloud?" he called out, approaching slowly.

Cloud stared at him, puzzled. "What is it? I'm you can hear me, this is great right here."

"Listen to yourself, Cloud."

Cloud paused, checking his heart beat and breath. Everything seemed normal, why- "Don't you dare put me back."

No. No no no nonono he hadn't signed up to go through this again. He opened his mouth to scream but it didn't work and his hand moved up to clutch at his head but he hadn't done it and-

"Please stop. It hurts."

Cloud snarled, but his body didn't move in response. He hoped it hurt. Some bastard was using Cloud's body as his own again and there was no way, no way he was going to allow it. No one else was going to die because he couldn't control himself.

"Cloud, stop it."

That was Vincent. Why was Vincent telling him to stop fighting?

"We might be able to help you, but you have to cooperate. Both of you."

His body nodded, but Cloud was shaking. He couldn't do this. Wouldn't bargain for his own body. Apparently, though, he was incapable of voicing this.

Angeal's voice broke in from the background, interrupting the attempted negotiations. "I think he's waking up. I don't know what your issues are, the both of you, but Vincent, you promised you would help him. Is there anything we should be doing right now, or is it finished?"

Vincent shook his head, eyes remaining locked on Cloud's. "It is done."

Now that his panic was receding, Cloud was starting to remember how frustrating all of this was. He couldn't say anything. He couldn't do anything. He saw out of his body's eyes, heard the things it heard, yes was unable to react to his surrounding. A kid was controlling his body, someone who hadn't even lived, twenty years, whereas Cloud had lived hundreds. Knowing it was a younger version of him did nothing to abate his fears. It was this boy's decisions that had gotten them into this mess in the first place, all those years ago.

Vincent strode forwards and grabbed the boy, pulling him onto his back as he changed into his winged form. Cloud saw Angeal holding a hand to the bridge of his nose for an instant before they were in the air, leaving the SOLDIERS behind them.

"Where are we going?" his voice squeaked, and he winced at the sound. It sounded like him, certainly, but much more nervous than his own detached tones had ever been. Hearing himself speak, feeling his mouth move without deciding it was strange enough, but feeling his face form expressions he can never remember it making was starting to creep him out.

"Aerith," Vincent replied, and Cloud wanted to sigh in relief. Aerith could fix this. He wasn't sure how, but there had to be something she could do.

They flew for ages, and Cloud fell asleep on the way there. It seemed his own consciousness shut down when his body's did, as he would never have fallen asleep while high in the air on the back of his friend, no matter how exhausted. Apparently the boy controlling his body did not feel the same way.

Cloud woke up and immediately was able to tell there was a number of people around him. His first instinct was to feign sleep until he could identify the situation, but his body disagreed. He mad a little noise and sat up, rubbing an eye with one hand while the other blinked open.

"Spiky!"

His body was thrown backwards and he struggled for control, itching to leap to his feet and fight back. Cloud was under attack, but his body just laid there, squirming, laughing?

Cloud's eyes opened and Zack's grinning visage met his gaze. "It's nice to see you too, Zack," he responded.

Zack's grin faded and he stood up, holding out a hand to help Cloud up. "I'm sorry, Cloud. I'm not entirely sure I understand what's going on, but I'm here to help, okay?"

Cloud nodded, smiling, but inside he was doing anything but. Zack was his friend, not his younger self's. Yet here the SOLDIER was, offering support. That in itself was fantastic, but Cloud was getting the desperate feeling that he wasn't the one Zack wanted to help.

"I'm not sure what's so hard to understand, yo,"

Cloud turned to look at Reno, a pair of goggles on his forehead and hair longer than Cloud remembered. "Well," Cloud murmured, glancing down looking up only occasionally as he spoke. "I don't entirely get it my self, to be honest."

Reno snorted, turning his head to look towards the back of the church. Cloud followed his gaze to see Aerith and Vincent discussing something intensely. "Little blondie was liven his life, goin' about his business being all meek and crap, then suddenly, bam. Badass future Cloudy gets sucked into his head somehow, and bein the awesome, crazy guy he is takes over without even noticin', yo. Then after a while, Cloudy gets whatever he needs to done, so then the powers that be decide they don't really need him anymore. Cloudy ain't up for that, yo, so instead he doesn't let go. Then we're hear, with the little guy in charge and Cloudy locked up behind that sweet little face."

Zack looked aghast. "So, you mean Spiky got possessed?"

Reno laughed and shook his head. "I don't know if you got chocobo feathers in your head or what, yo. This isn't your Spiky."

"I'm sorry."

They both turned to look at the boy, and Cloud cursed his body's inclination to avoid eye contact.

"I know I'm not who you're used to, but I consider you two to be my friends regardless. I've lived through everything he's done since taking over. I did know both of you before this happened. Remember Zack?" At this he turned to face the SOLDIER, eyes wide with hope. "That first day in the cafeteria? And there were a few weeks of training with you, Reno, before he took over. I don't think we ever really talked, but-"

"That's 'cause you weren't worth talkin' to!" Reno snarled. He lunged forward, fists flying, but Zack held him back.

"Stop it, Reno. He's just a kid. None of this is his fault, he was just along for the ride." Zack looked back into Cloud's eyes. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I like you, really, but I also like Spiky, ya know? I want to be friends with both of you, if that's possible."

Cloud wasn't sure how to take this. Reno clearly wanted him to retake control of his body, but Zack was being unnervingly sympathetic to his younger self. That was Zack of course, sympathetic to a fault. That was probably why they ended up friends in the first place, the SOLDIER feeling bad for him.

"Cloud," a sweet voice chimed, drawing everyone's gaze. Aerith had stood up and approached them, Vincent looming behind her. "I'm afraid I can't give you back control of the body, and even if I could I wouldn't. I barely know what I'm doing at all, and I'm not about to harm an innocent when you are the invading force. I'm sorry, truly, but I can't do anything. Maybe I could find a living body that was somehow devoid of a person, but I'm afraid that's just not possible. Vincent was able to merge his selves, are you sure you can't do the same?"

She looked so lost and hopeful, and Cloud remembered she was still young, as young as Zack. Aerith didn't deserve to worry herself over this mess, but there was no one else who had the ability to help.

"I- I'm sorry ma'am." the boy stuttered. "I think we're far too different to do anything like that."

It was odd, but he was starting to feel sorry for his younger self. He sounded so vulnerable. Regardless, he wasn't willing to give up his own life for the boy's.

"I think this is where I come in, yo." Everyone turned to look at Reno, and the red haired Turk responded with a smirk. "You can put him in me, can't ya? I wouldn't mind havin' Cloudy floatin' around in my head. We can switch off days or somethin', yo, it'll be chill."

Everyone was silent for a long moment and Cloud just stared wide eyed, his body matching with his feelings for the first time since this had started. Since when had Reno been so devoted? It wasn't a secret the Turk was reckless with his life, but this was, this was-

"I can't do that," Aerith responded, face and voice the hardest he had ever heard it. "I understand you want to help your friend, but you have your own life to lead."

Vincent stepped forward and shook his head at the girl, causing her to step back, obviously intimidated by the man. "Having others with you isn't... bad. As long as you can... get along, you should be able to communicate and switch control at will. If you both are willing?"

Reno nodded eagerly, but Cloud wasn't so sure. Anything was better than this, whatever this was, but having the same body as Reno? That was a strange idea to say the least. The Turk seemed more than open to it, though, so if it was okay...

"I can't ask him. I know you want me to let him respond, b-but I can't. I'm sorry really, I j-just never want to be like that again, and what if he never lets me back out?"

Zack leaned over and embraced the boy. "Shh, Spiky, it's okay. No ones going to make you do anything. I promise. I think it's pretty safe to say Cloud would rather live with Reno than stay helpless with you terrified. You don't need to go back."

Cloud nodded, rubbing away his tears, but Aerith didn't look convinced. "I really can't go through with this if he doesn't want to. If he struggles during transfer I don't know what could happen. I don't even know if I can do this at all."

Reno laughed and slung his arm around Cloud, prying him out of Zack's grasp. "Let's just get this over with, yo. So what, do we hold each other's heads or whatever?"

Aerith shook her head, flustered. "Oh, no, nothing like that. You might want to lay down though, just in case you fall. I'm sorry in advance, I don't even know if this is possible." With a last look at the determination on Reno's face she knelt, clasped her hands together, and began praying.

Cloud felt like he was being torn away from his body and panicked, sending out tendrils of will to hold himself together before forcing himself to relax. As soon as he was separated from his old body he was washed in a sea of green, feeling with all or his senses just how green everything was. It sounded green, tasted green, even smelled green. It was over soon enough however, and he fell into Reno's body, settling easily into his senses. His mouth smiled almost as soon as he finished the transfer, and Reno was on his feet in no time. "Well Cloudy, how do you like it?"

With every word he spoke orange tinged the outskirts of his vision, startling him. He jumped backwards and Reno yelped in surprise, not used to his body moving without his volition. "Wha-what is that?" he asked with Reno's voice, surprised when his body answered to his demands and orange danced across the top of his vision again.

"Forgot about my synesthesia, did ya, Cloudy? Better get used to it. Boy have I got a lot to show you." Reno grinned, and Cloud grinned with him. This wasn't so bad.

"This is sooo cool!" Zack yelped, jumping while holding onto the younger Cloud's shoulder. His voice sparked dark blue in the direction he was standing. "I gotta tell Angeal! Oh, Kunsel's gonna love this too!" With that he sprinted for the exit, slamming the doors with a brown splash that somehow managed not to obstruct Cloud's vision.

"Don't trample the flowers, Zack!" Aerith called after him, her voice misting lilac.

No, this wasn't going to be bad at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the end. I know some of you won't like it, but that's okay. I might rewrite it later, because it feels pretty rushed, but the general events will be the same. I was considering writing an ending where Cloud was going to be executed, but then young Cloud broke through just in time to have control for his death and the sudden innocence or whatever made everyone watching uneasy, but that didn't happen. Any chapters after this are just random extras.


	25. Extra Jenova's Death

Vincent scanned the reactor from his perch on a nearby boulder. Jenova was supposed to be inside. How creative, hiding Jenova in a reator. After half a day observing the reactor and the surrounding area, he should already be inside, assured that no guards were stationed to protect the virus. Yet here he was, checking everything over for the nth time.

 _'Take your time'_ Chaos murmured, and Vincent let out a sigh.

'Are you sure about this?' he thought to his demons, deformed hand clenching in its gauntlet.

In response his mind roiled, its occupants pulling at the bit. **'Get on with it,'** Gigas growled, and Vincent's mouth almost tugged into a smile.

Without another thought he leaped from the boulder, landing gracefully and flowing in through the doorway of the reactor. Ignoring the majority of his surroundings he stepped forward with purpose, heading straight up the stairs and to the back. With Hojo's lack of creativity in storage locations, there was likely no need to. Sure enough, there, in the same back room that had existed in Nibelheim, Jenova lay.

'Are you ready?' Vincent questioned, kneeling and taking out a destruct materia he never thought he would use. When his tenants had all shown their agreement he activated the materia, falling to the side and clutching his head as his mind was torn apart.

The pain he felt was indescribable. He would have liked to be able to say he had felt worse, but its nature prevented any comparison. The only similar thing he might have experienced before was when Hojo had created the barrier in his psyche to keep in the demons, but at that point in time he had been unconscious and near death.

He felt when Galian left. The closest to the surface, the beast's form incorporeal without a life form on which to base its structure. It floated through the tank and into Jenova itself, attempting to attach itself to the virus.

The idea was that Jenova could be nullified by an equal and opposite force. As it came from beyond the stars and his demons were formed within the lifestream itself, no other two objects could contradict each other so.

Gigas, the next closest to the surface, trampled out with a roar. He too soon was sucked into the virus, leaving Vincent's head an empty shell of what it had been. The pain was subsiding by this point, leaving him all to aware of the newly formed space in his mind.

'I do believe it is almost destroyed,' Hellmasker hissed, adding, 'You may not be necessary after all, Chaos.' With that she slipped out of his mind, adding her own existence to the offense on Jenova.

As the last wisps of her presence faded, Vincent sagged in exhaustion. A buzzing had stopped, one he only noticed when it was gone. "Is it over?" he croaked, too drained to tell if he was thinking or speaking aloud.

 _'It is done,'_ he felt Chaos respond. _'It is good my sacrifice was not necessary. Without Jenova Omega is unlikely to rise, but it is unknown if some new planetary threat will appear in the future.'_

With that Vincent stumbled to his feet, breaking the glass to grasp Jenova's husk. Later that day, as he settled down for a short rest before going to find Cloud, he could only nod in response when Chaos said _'It felt delightful to watch her burn.'_


End file.
